Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon – Lewis Michael (2023)

In Going Infinite, Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short and Flash Boys, tells the story of Sam Bankman-Fried, the enigmatic figure at the centre of one of the twenty-first century’s most spectacular financial collapses. Before turning thirty, Bankman-Fried became the world’s youngest billionaire, building a record fortune during the crypto boom while CEOs, celebrities and world leaders competed for his attention. He even considered paying off the Bahamas’ national debt to move his business there. Then everything fell apart. Lewis explores who this unusual figure was: a rumpled man in cargo shorts whose eyes twitched during television interviews as he played video games, and whom even his million-dollar investors struggled to understand. Having met Bankman-Fried during his extraordinary rise, Lewis follows the trajectory of a man who disliked rules and was allowed to live by his own. The result is both a psychological portrait of a gifted “thinking machine” and a wild financial ride through crypto mania, high-frequency trading, enormous sums of money, hubris and downfall.