Odd Lots - Introducing - Spellcaster: The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

Coming soon: When nerdy gamer Sam Bankman-Fried rocketed to fame as the world’s richest 29-year-old, he pledged to donate his billions to good causes. But then his crypto exchange FTX collapsed Billions of dollars were missing, and Sam was in handcuffs. Those who knew him were left wondering — who was Sam really? A well-meaning billionaire who made a mistake? Or a calculating con man? From Wondery and Bloomberg, the makers of The Shrink Next Door, comes a new story of incredible wealth, betrayal and what happens when “doing good” goes really really bad. Learn more here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spellcaster-the-fall-of-sam-bankman-fried/id1685258534See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet Sam. Sam is 30 years old. He typically wore t-shirts and shorts and sandals. He likes to play computer games. He is commanding this army of fairies and elves in this online game. He talks a lot about doing good and helping people. There really was this idea that he was going to change the world. Sam may not act the part, but he's a billionaire.

Save for Mark Zuckerberg, no one in history has ever gotten so rich so young. But on December 12, 2022, everything changes for Sam. And what he calls a screw-up, the U.S. government calls one of the largest frauds in history. They had lost a very significant amount of money. Lots of people were hurt badly. Which left everyone wondering, who is Sam Bankman freed? From Bloomberg and Wondry, the makers of the Shrank Next Door, comes a new series, Spellcaster,

the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, a story of incredible wealth. There was a sense of awe when he walked in. It was like a celebrity. Betrayal. He would flip a switch with regards to a given person. He would delete them from his reality. And what happens when that talk of doing good goes really, really bad? It was basically just everyone racing out the door of the burning building for the same exit, right?

You realize that it was just a big smoking crater of a company. So that's when I started saying, don't trust Sam Bankman-Fried. I'm Hannah Miller, a reporter for Bloomberg. Follow Spellcaster, the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. You can start listening to Spellcaster early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondry Plus, and Apple Podcasts or The Wondry app. I asked him what I should ask Sam, and he was just like, ask where my money is.