Becoming Sam Bankman-Fried: The Complete Documentary

The highly anticipated criminal trial and sentencing for Sam Bankman-Fried is kicking off, with Sam facing 7 counts that could net him a life sentence. But how did we get here? And what led this privileged silicon valley geek to become arguably the greatest fraud of all time?

In probably the craziest rise and fall of all time, The 31-year-old built FTX into A company that everyone believed would usher in the future of crypto and change the world, worth $32 billion dollars in just a few short years, but then even more quickly went bankrupt virtually overnight, amidst discoveries of massive fraud and scandal. Sam was crypto’s real life “white knight” - even using his wealth to bail out other crypto companies, all while promising to donate 99% of his money to charity, and becoming the poster boy of responsible crypto investing. New: He graced the covers of time magazine, became one of the most influential lobbyists in Congress, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Tom Brady and Bill Clinton in the Bahamas where he lived like royalty. Now with billions of consumer’s dollars completely wiped out and many thousands of lives ruined,.Sam has become the very embodiment of crypto abuse and bad behavior that he said he was campaigning against.

[nogatekeepers]

Do you agree FTX is the greatest fraud of all time?

[cabbagebox]

He's not a geek, he's a poser. He hit all the right marks and exploited his insider position in society. Money laundering. He's dangerous and should be treated accordingly. He was telling you what he was.

[kennethpeterson]

He crafted a character..socially genius..everyone wanted to help develop into a real boy..then he wants people to believe he was manipulated..

[spde]

How the heck is this not more popular... This is the BEST documentary on the background story that I have seen so far as a lay person!!

[therearenoshortcuts]

"Bill Clinton attended"

that's the ultimate red flag, leading indicator that something is wrong LOL

[howardhill]

"stop losses...I think those aren't necessarily a great risk management tool" -Caroline Ellison, ex CEO of Alameda Research. This is actually the most basic tool of risk management, So her statement tells me there was substantially no risk management at SBF. I believe that on some level, Sam & Caroline thought they could "create money" without limit, so no risk management necessary.

[rof]

SBF was too overconfident to fear going to prison which is where he is headed for a long time.

[thesilentangel]

You know a company is badly managed when the guy who had to clean up Enron’s mess comes in, And proclaims it the worst financial fraud in history.

Especially when he said he found that they were using Quickbooks.

[alexandracolmant]

Nice job of summarizing the situation...my favorite so far!

[caboose]

Been following this story. So interesting and wild. Thanks for the doc, great job!

[robertlyons]

His parents do not teach compliance! Do your homework. They teach law and his father is a tax specialist and he advised FTX executives how to avoid paying taxes. He will most likely be charged in this fiasco.

[KrystleSenires]

Such a great breakdown of the whole story. Thank you for the work you do!

[ricardoblikman]

I think it ran out of proportions is because of bad parenting. I dont know the guy but I honestly think he does not even comprehend what he did was wrong. He is just mainly playing videogame's and doing interviews and let others build the code etc. He lacks morals, discipline, empathy if you would give him a button to launch an atomic bomb he would do it, not because he is evil but simply because he dont really care to understand what the impact will be on woman and children. His education is very high but his mind is of a 7 year old child! he is just playing a game, maybe he even thinks that if he loses he can just load the game from the saved slot again or reset it. I am sure his parents are aware and warned many times about their child's behaviour and has been brought up privileged and protected by his parents. This can not be a human being that could have operated whole his life in a normal society or schooling system without his parents intervention. He completely lacks everything that makes someone human, with the exception of his sex life, he just dont care really he is busy with playing games and the rest is a minor detail!

[JohnSmith-jtqr]

For those over 30, the term "dating" means a bit more than a kiss on the cheek.

[carocarochan]

Why so much greed? That's the root of so many problems on this planet.

[itzhakbentov]

His mother must be a very special Ethics Professor

[snrff]

so... your video doesn't explicitly say it, but as far as we know, did sam bankman-fried actually support any charitable causes at all? it sounds like "no", if we're saying the "effective altruism" thing was just a spin. it's a very small part of the story, i know, but still. i'm poor and i give money - this guy is (or was) rich, did all he give were promises that he never intended to keep?

[poocumber]

Fantastic vid, nicely paced, very informative and engaging, perfectly edited too. That’s quite a skill 👌🏻

[MM-vvwk]

this was better than the bloomberg one hour and thirty min documentary!!!!

[BlazeNexusDelta]

Best and clearest breakdown I have seen so far on the matter… Subscribed! 😊