Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon

When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was crypto's Gatsby and, according to Forbes, the riches person in the world under 30. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaires list.

Bankman-Fried's financial goal? Infinity dollars. As he told Lewis on a Berkeley Hills hike, he'd earmarked the cash to solve earth's biggest existential risks, like nuclear war, pandemics, and artificial intelligence turning on mankind. On a more modest level, he toyed wit wiping out the national debt of the Bahamas.

Lewis hadn't imagined that this unkempt billionaire would be his next subject. Instead, he was meeting Bankman-Fried as a favor to a friend. But by the end of their walk, Lewis was deeply curious about FTX's founder. who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? Lewis decided to find out. "I don't know what's going to happen to you," Lewis said, "but I just want to watch."

In Going Infinite, Lewis captures the psychology of a figure who defines an era. For more than a year, Lewis had unparalleled access to Bankman-Fried. He was a fly on the wall during Bankman-Fried's frenetic rise, watching him amass a $22.5 billion fortune in record time. He also witnessed FTX crumble: while employees fled the Bahamas, only Lewis and Bankman-Fried's therapist stayed with the ex-billionaire in his debris-strewn compound.

Lewis takes readers on a wild ride through crypto's gold rush, offering an education in high-frequency trading, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Author of #1 bestsellers including Liar's Poker, The Big Short, and Flash Boys, Lewis is the greatest chronicler of our financial world. In Going Infinite, he is at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own—until it all came undone.