Sam Bankman-Fried is not a fashionista. His crypto billionaire uniform is a rumpled T-shirt and baggy cargo shorts, while his attire as an alleged crypto criminal is an ill-fitting suit.
Yet throughout his reign as a cryptocurrency prodigy, celebrities, magazines, and former leaders of the free world wooed him every step of the way, not even fashion queens and Vogue editors. FashionAnna Wintour can resist people who don’t care about their clothes. Well, until Bankman-Fried blew her away.
in a excerpt A forthcoming chronicle of the rise and fall of Bankman-Fried is by Michael Lewis, who has published books such as big short and Moneyballdetails how Bankman-Fried hosted Wintour’s invitation to the Met Gala, arguably the most high-profile fashion event of the year, but like so many of his other commitments , he did not attend.
While dining with celebrities like Shaquille O’Neil and Orlando Bloom during a Valentine’s Day 2022 trip to Los Angeles, the high priestess of fashion confided in Bankman Bankman-Fried made a request to attend and sponsor the event.
FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, suddenly went bankrupt about a year ago. When Wintour spoke via Zoom, the former CEO of FTX nodded and said “yes,” but mostly, he was Playing his favorite video game, storybook brawl.
Wintour ended the conversation “enthusiastically” in response to Bankman-Fried’s absent-minded nod in agreement with her invitation and request for sponsorship, Lewis wrote. But the FTX co-founder is not convinced. “If this is something I want to do, I have to seriously consider it,” he said shortly after the call ended.
However, Bankman-Fried’s team is planning as if he’s going to this year’s fashion event, putting out feelers to Louis Vuitton to see if it’s possible to supply Bankman-Fried with T-shirts and workwear. The trousers uniform is designed with a high-end customized version. And paid Tom Ford to design an outfit complete with $65,000 cufflinks.
However, Bankman-Fried inevitably walked out of the party, leaving Wintour’s team outraged, contrary to the polite expressions of understanding from many of the other celebrities he bailed on. “They were calling and screaming that Sam would never be involved in fashion again!” FTX’s former public relations director told Lewis.
represent Fashion A request for comment was not immediately returned when contacted. wealth.
Bankman-Fried’s brief dalliance with the rare echelons of the fashion world is just one of many previously unreported anecdotes from Lewis’s highly anticipated book, Towards Infinity: The Rise and Fall of the New Tycoons.
Other content includes Bankman-Fried considering whether to pay former President Donald Trump billions to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, and FTX co-founder’s previous move to NFL Quarterback Tom Brady and model and Brady’s ex-girlfriend Gisele Bündchen have committed amounts that have not been previously reported. Wife, “cooperates” with cryptocurrency exchange.
Go to infinity The release is scheduled for Tuesday, the same day jury selection for the Bankman-Fried trial is scheduled to begin. Oral arguments begin the next day in what is sure to be one of the most high-profile white-collar criminal cases of the decade.
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