Going Infinite

The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon

By: Michael Lewis

Narrated by: Michael Lewis

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

From the number one best-selling author of The Big Short and Flash Boys, the story of FTX’s spectacular collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center.

When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. 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?

In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking listeners into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Michael Lewis (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

How did Michael Lewis get such access?

Answers so many questions. Well done! SBF trial starts today. It feels less a criminal plot than a Genius confusion

Great Book, Despite Some Negative Reviews

Many reviewers regard Lewis as an apologist for SBF. If you read closely, Lewis has given enough detail to let you form your own opinion.

I picked up the book already thinking that Effective Altruism was a horrible ethic, and I came away with a nuanced, but not really unchanged view of SBF.

You get what you put into this book - Lewis doesn’t do your thinking for you.

Something missing?

I love Michael Lewis books, but this one just felt like he’d rushed it out for some reason.

I read that he’d written it in six months, so with the trial literally going on as we speak, I’m not sure why he wouldn’t have waited a couple of months to put a bow on the story, by actually hearing the evidence the prosecutors had to present.

The last couple of chapters are basically his back of the napkin calculations of where the money went and what happened, so why not wait to hear where it actually went?

I don’t think he painted SBF as sympathetic, he comes off as a disheveled, disorganized, very smart nerd who is arrogantly self-assured.

Overall it’s disappointing because it just didn’t feel like there was real meat to any of it. There were numerous details that i have read about the whole saga in the New York Times and Bloomberg that he just didn’t seem to address.

Remarkable insights

Michael Lewis does it again! I went into this book with one set of opinions and leave it with all those opinions challenged— just what I hope for in a Michael Lewis book! And talk about timing— released on the second day of SBF’s trial. Now on to listen to Lewis’ podcast of the trial which I hope will provide the basis for volume 2.

A joy to listen to

Michael Lewis continues to dissect and bring light to what many of us do not understand or have very little idea
Going Infinite continue with an in depth look at the FTX fiasco and what led to it. Much like his book The Big Short, many questions remain about where the money went, but what is clear is what led to the implosion of FTX and a better understanding of the lead up to it.

Meh

I was anxiously awaiting this book… and couldn’t have been more bored and disappointed by this telling.

Great Lewis book on the characters and their motivation.

Excellent written and delivered story - if you are looking for answer it’s not a book for you. If you want to understand the characters and their motivations then its a book for you

Excellence review

Listened to this entire book - told so we’ll. Written with compassion for SBF and those around him. Still clueless about crypto but this is a fascinating and honest account. Definitely read!!

Michael Lewis at his absolute best!

Timely, in-depth, and told with the gripping intensity that is the Michael Lewis trademark.

Informative

Fascinating and informative to find out what is going on with a newer generation. I had no idea.