Sam Bankman-Fried Wrote to Actor Portraying Him in Netflix Series

Netflix is set to release The Altruists, a dramatization of the FTX saga, in about three weeks. According to Cointelegraph, a Wednesday Vanity Fair report said Anthony Boyle, the Irish actor playing Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, emailed the former FTX CEO in prison while preparing for the role. Boyle said he had promised not to reveal the contents of their correspondence, but Bankman-Fried reportedly answered most of his questions. Boyle said he wanted to understand what drove someone to become the world’s youngest billionaire, rather than focus on money, cryptocurrency or finance. The series is among the first dramatizations of the FTX story since Bankman-Fried was found guilty and sentenced to prison. Netflix released a trailer on Oct. 8, which appeared to focus on the relationship between Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, his colleague and girlfriend. Ellison led Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company.

Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven felony counts related to the misuse of customer funds at FTX and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ellison was released in January after serving more than a year under a plea deal with US authorities. Former FTX COO Constance Wang said the executives’ portrayals on screen made her “feel physically upset,” and described Bankman-Fried as more “socially awkward” than Boyle’s performance suggested. The former CEO has also been the subject of other media coverage, including Michael Lewis’ 2023 book Going Infinite. Ben McKenzie’s documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money featured a 2022 interview with Bankman-Fried, conducted before FTX’s collapse. Until The Altruists, no other significant dramatization of Bankman-Fried or FTX had been released on television or the big screen. The series brings the exchange’s story to a scripted format, with Boyle’s preparation involving direct email correspondence with the imprisoned former CEO.