Introducing - Spellcaster: The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried

Coming soon: When nerdy gamer Sam Bankman-Fried rocketed to fame as the world’s richest 29-year-old, he pledged to donate his billions to good causes. But then his crypto exchange FTX collapsed Billions of dollars were missing, and Sam was in handcuffs. Those who knew him were left wondering — who was Sam really? A well-meaning billionaire who made a mistake? Or a calculating con man? From Wondery and Bloomberg, the makers of The Shrink Next Door, comes a new story of incredible wealth, betrayal and what happens when “doing good” goes really really bad. Learn more here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spellcaster-the-fall-of-sam-bankman-fried/id1685258534

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Wondering.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Meet Sam. Sam is thirty years old.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
He typically wore T shirts and shorts and samples.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
He likes to play computer games.

Speaker 4 (00:17):
He is commanding this army of fairies and elves in
this online game.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
He talks a lot about doing good and helping people.

Speaker 5 (00:28):
There really was this idea that he was going to
change the world.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Sam may not act the part, but he's a billionaire.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Say for Mark Zuckerberg.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
No one in history has ever gotten so rich so young.
But on December twelfth, twenty twenty two, everything changes for
Sam and what he calls a screw up.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
The US government calls one of the largest frauds in history.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
They had lost a very significant amount of money. Lots
of people were hurt badly, which left everyone wondering who
is Sam Bankman freed from Bloomberg and wondering the makers
of the shrank next Door comes a new series, Spellcaster,
The Fall of Sam Bankman Freed a story of incredible wealth.

(01:15):
There was a sense of awe when he walked in.
It was like a celebrity betrayal.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
He would flip a switch with regards to a given person,
he would delete them from his reality.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
And what happens when that talk of doing good goes
really really bad.

Speaker 5 (01:33):
It was basically just everyone racing out the door of
the burning building for the same exit. Right, you realize
that it was just a big smoking crater.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Of a company. So that's when I started saying, don't
trust Sam Bankman Freed.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
I'm Hannah Miller, a reporter for Bloomberg. Follow Spellcaster The
Fall of Sam Bankman Freed on Amazon Music or wherever
you get your podcasts. You can start listening to Spellcaster
early and add free by subscribing to Wondery Plus an
Apple Podcasts or the Wondery App. I asked him what

(02:11):
I should ask Sam, and he was just like us,
where my money is