Michael Lewis on the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried

Having already amassed a $26 billion fortune at 28, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was the world's richest person under 30. He was also the most prominent advocate of the 'effective altruism' movement, pledging to donate millions of dollars to charities he judged would make the greatest positive difference.

Then, it all came crashing down. Bankman-Fried is currently on trial in New York for fraud, after the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange exposed the misuse of customer funds.

But he is no ordinary greedy billionaire, says best-selling author Michael Lewis, who had already chosen Bankman-Fried as the subject of his next book before his fortunes changed.

Lewis, whose previous books include Moneyball, The Big Short and Flash Boys, returns to the Inside Politics podcast to talk to Hugh Linehan about the highly unusual personality, methods and motivations of Sam Bankman-Fried. He also addresses the criticisms he himself has faced for his relatively favourable depiction of a man charged with conspiracy, money laundering and fraud.

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