Going Infinite

The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon

By: Michael Lewis

Narrated by: Michael Lewis

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

'I asked him how much it would take for him to sell FTX and go do something other than make money. He thought the question over. "One hundred and fifty billion dollars," he finally said-though he added that he had use for "infinity dollars"...'

Sam Bankman-Fried wasn't just rich. Before he turned thirty he'd become the world's youngest billionaire, making a record fortune in the crypto frenzy. CEOs, celebrities and world leaders vied for his time. At one point he considered paying off the entire national debt of the Bahamas so he could take his business there.

Then it all fell apart.

Who was this Gatsby of the crypto world, a rumpled guy in cargo shorts, whose eyes twitched across TV interviews as he played video games on the side, who even his million-dollar investors still found a mystery? What gave him such an extraordinary ability to make money - and how did his empire collapse so spectacularly?

Michael Lewis was there when it happened, having got to know Bankman-Fried during his epic rise. In Going Infinite he tells us a story like no other, taking us through the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own. Both psychological portrait of a preternaturally gifted 'thinking machine', and wild financial roller-coaster ride, this is a twenty-first-century epic of high-frequency trading and even higher stakes, of crypto mania and insane amounts of money, of hubris and downfall. No one could tell it better.

©2023 Michael Lewis (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Going Infinite is in many ways Lewis at his best. He marshals a complex global story without losing sight of the delightful and revealing human details. He is a world-class noticer … Lewis is a generous writer with a humane intelligence, and it is to his credit that he doesn’t reach for easy cynicism or cheap effects. (Jesse Armstrong)

Going Infinite is wildly entertaining, surprising multiple times on pretty much every page, but it adds up to a sad story, even a tragedy, for its central character and for all the people who lost so much thanks to his actions… Lewis tries to answer the first question he was asked about Bankman-Fried: who was this guy? The question of his guilt or innocence Lewis leaves to the criminal justice system. I think that’s good practice, given that the trial is happening right now. For what it’s worth, I see no contradiction between the person described in Going Infinite and the things SBF is accused of having done. In fact I think the book makes it easier to understand how and why he did what he allegedly did. (John Lanchester)

Life is what happens between Michael Lewis books. (Michael Hofmann)

Unexpectedly great

No real interest in Crypto but thought if anyone could make it interesting it would be Michael Lewis. He did

Well told story

But was overly lenient on someone who committed a heinous crime. This “genius” whose only crime seemed to be his inability to empathise with those he worked with

Excellent

Fascinating “inside” perspective of “Sam’s world”. I think this is one of Micheal Lewis’s best books. I couldn’t stop listening to it and I’m definitely going to listen to it again.

Another hagiography by Lewis, but fun

it is not as ass-kissing as other people say, but I strongly suggest that you read "Number Go Up" and "Easy Money" for a more balanced perspective

that said, the book is well written and gripping as per usual for ML

A great story that fills in a lot of interesting little details

SBF is a fascinating character - well written and researched - looking forward to Part 2
Thanks

Excellent

Listened to it twice in immediate succession. How unusual to have such an "inside" perspective, so early in the process.

As always, Lewis finds a unique angle

As so many other people, I expected this to be a brutal takedown piece of one of the most reviled figures of recent memory. I should have known better.

Lewis never tells the story you think he is going to, but somehow always ends up telling a better one, and from an angle you never considered.

Many reviewers seem to think that Lewis is somehow taken in by SBF and is way too kind to him. This is missing the point entirely. He never makes excuses for SBF and has no illusions as to his culpability in everything that has happened.

Going Infinite is a balanced, nuanced take that is just as harsh on the people who allowed themselves to be fooled by promises they knew were too good to be true. Bankman-Fried unwittingly turns out to be the ultimate bull in a china shop, and while you can be angry that the bull wrecked everything, you also have to wonder who the hell let him in there in the first place.

Lewis's best inside view since Liars Poker

While Lewis's seemingly at times naive appreciation for SBF can be head scratching, but the story told has the feeling of a fly on the wall of a real life white collar network television show, except the characters involved are way less sexy and introverted, and the finally is financial collapse.

Loved it. Highly recommended.

This is a great book. It gives you a deeper insight into the dealings of FTX in its glory days and right before it crashed.

Lazy

Michael Lewis clearly had a deadline to finish this book and decided the path of least resistance was the right one. He literally glossed over so many key issues including the most important issue at hand, the fraud. He seemed happy to give SBF and his associates a “pass” on the fact that they stole other peoples money because he was an effective altruist ? It was someone else’s money! Just because you are an EA and have some deluded vision that your elite liberal views are right for all of us doesn’t justify the means. This is the last book of his I will buy. It’s fabulous complicated story of human nature where Lewis had unrivalled access and like a character in money ball Michael deserves to be sent back to the Farm league.

PS while I am involved in crypto and lost a very small amount of money that is not my motivator.