This Post Has 9 Comments

1. Great read
   Michael Lewis again does a masterful job of explaining a complicated happening!Recommending to my friends! Why 4 more words?

   Reply

2. not his best
   Bit light on detail. It read as if the whole scheme was a bit simplistic. Which it wasn’t. I also realize that it’s a hard balance to strike between too much and too little detail. Overall, was enjoyable.

   Reply

3. Review of “Going Infinite” by Michael Lewis
   “Going Infinite” is the story of the people behind the crash of the crypto exchange FTX around November 2022. FTX was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), who at one time was reported to be the wealthiest person under age 30 in the world. At that time, he reportedly was worth about 23 billion US dollars. Michael Lewis embedded himself for almost 2 years into SBF’s world and was able to observe the complex financial business of digital currency and in particular the financial empire SBF created (and eventually destroyed). Lewis has an exceptional ability to observe, study, and provide analysis of complex institutions and the highly specialized individuals who create and work in such institutions. Good examples of Lewis’s penchant for such chronicling would be his books Liar’s Poker (Wall Street Investment Banking) and say Moneyball (How metrics evolved into analytics and were introduced into sports). Lewis is exceptionally effective in interpreting the jargon and technical language of a specialized complex social/economic/scientific entity and writing about it in a way that a lay person can comfortably understand. For example, there are few uses of the term “blockchain” in Lewis’s narrative of the crypto business! However, when he does define it, the concept is clear to anyone who has, say has had a bank account.The story is focused on SBF and how he evolved into the King of Crypto. And just since publication of the book (winter 2023) he is now a convicted felon serving a long jail term in a federal prison. The irony is striking. SBF the son of upper-class parents with exceptional mathematical, analytical , and video game skills which set him apart from his peers such that his socialization was nonexistent. His motivations for accruing such huge wealth are not what we would suspect of a person so driven to accumulate an “infinite” fortune. He is a person who cares very much about mankind but has little interest in people. Read the book to understand the implied contradiction. The story traces his journey as a kid growing up in the video-gaming age in California, graduating from MIT with degrees in mathematics and physics and then gravitating to Wall Street, where he becomes professional trader and is encompassed in an environment of similarly smart and sometimes socially maladjusted people. Lewis profiles the team SBX assembled around him to build FTX. Most of these people were somewhat different (almost all with high intellect) but maybe a couple of standard deviations (socially) from the norm. SBF’s management style was not just unorthodox but almost non-existent. His lack of attention to US government trading regulations and laws eventually led to his downfall. Lewis meticulously details the events and the people dynamics immediately prior to the downfall of FTX.

   Reply

4. History repeats. These days it repeats at 32x speed and skips the boring bits
   I read somewhere that pestilence was disease of the agricultural revolution, cancer of industrial revolution and insanity is of the information revolution. “Going Infinite..” is such a story of insanity.In 1643, a single bulb of Tulip could cost well over a million dollars in today’s currency. Tulip mania raged for decades till the fever broke. Between 2020-21, FTX/Alameda – the exchange and “research farm” founded by SBF – was worth well over $100B. It declared bankruptcy in 2022. History repeats itself. These days, with social media, it rather fast forwards at 32x speed by skipping the boring bits! This book is a narrative of what happened.Michael Lewis is a very engaging writer. He especially excels in narrative interspersed with piercing insights. Manfred, the tattered childhood comfort toy of SBF, as his lone company in the week of 11 November, 2022 is such a brilliant piece in this relatively short book. Another was his treatment of EA – Effective Altruism, and his thesis of how that made SBF into whatever he became. In software, we have a so called ‘fundamental theorem’ – “any problem can be solved by adding an extra layer of indirection”. For many high IQ people disaffected with rampant capitalism — blindly chasing money — EA was THIS layer of indirection. Rather than run after billions, try to maximize the “utility value” of your life – e.g., by saving maximum possible lives in Bangladesh. Now, to do so, maximize your money! Going for the infinite dollars now has pride associated, not guilt. SBF and his co-worker/Alameda Research chief/romantic interest’s “life/work memos” were highly illuminating as well.Where the book, I think, significantly falls short of is last of the three questions it tried to answer – one, who is SBF and what he wanted to do; two, what happened with FTX – from $100B to 0 in under a year; three, who or what is responsible for that fortune reversal, if not fraud. The final question is being answered in the court – but Lewis mostly hand-waved at it with a few superficial theories. In the very last chapter, he even posited that – essentially – all the “missing $8B is mostly there”. I am not an expert in finance, and one of the 84% of Americans who never invested in crypto, but Lewis’s theory sounded a lot like “Twinkie Defense”. It read like another case of “if it does not fit, acquit”.His theory stands on shaky ground because few very similar “serious FTX accounting gaps” surfaced even within the book and “mysteriously resolved” on their own. The “missing $440M” Ripple/Bitcoin exchange value and Turkey/Mauritius “hacker” stolen value are two such examples. Why was there no board of directors for FTX? Why did no one ever tallied the money in/money out in a simple spreadsheet like Lewis did, leave alone appoint a proper CFO? Who took the conscious decision to not write any “risk engine” – an essential primitive to move or store money? With obvious sympathy to the central character, author bypasses these critical “RCA” questions.Engaging and entertaining read for sure – especially as a gossipy business drama. But a little less focus on naming conventions of superrich people’s yachts (bad puns!) and little more on balance sheet, or lack thereof, could have made this a good case study to learn from. Especially for those who – these days – seem to genuinely abhor capitalism!

   Reply

5. This is the fourth book I have read by Michael Lewis and it did not disappoint. Going Infinite tells the tale of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), his rise and fall, and it is done excellently. This book gave me a feel for who SBF is and how he ended up where he did. It goes as far as the pending trial.Not only does the book cover SBF very well it also talks about the key players in his companies Alameda Research and FTX as well but I was most interested in the type of person SBF is. He is described as a genius with an inability to feel happiness. I believe the word Autistic is also thrown around with regards to him. It’s an interesting take and after having finishing reading this book I get the feeling that he didn’t so much as steal any money, as the media seems to want you to believe that he did, but just didn’t care about where it was. This is due to internal confidence in his belief that what he was doing didn’t need to be accounted for because it would all eventually tally up. In fact, at the end of the book you see that happening.My take on SBF is that he is sort of a genius at working Crypto Markets and Trades. Beyond that I would categorize him as ‘Special Needs’ in almost every other category of existence. I don’t say that to be mean, read the book and it’s obvious. Had he cared, even a tiny bit, about what he built up, and not treated it as one big video game, he could have possibly surpassed everyone else out there but he didn’t, not because he didn’t want to, I feel it was because he just couldn’t.This book rocks! Michael Lewis is definitely one of my top favorite documentary-writers today, this book is another 5 star and highly recommended.

   Reply

6. buen contenido

   Reply

7. If you’ve read any other Micheal Lewis books you know you’re in for a treat, in this one he had ring side seats for the collapse. He writes well, about Finance of Fatherhood it doesn’t matter.

   Reply

8. Another great Michael Lewis book, can’t wait till the next.Sad story really about SBF and the fall of FTX.

   Reply

9. Michael Lewis intensity but on a less interesting drama. Enjoyable in any case

   Reply