Apple is close to making a deal for the book rights to Michael Lewis’ story about fallen crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried and his FTX empire.
Deadline reports that Lewis – the author of Moneyball, The Big Short, and The Blind Side – spent six months shadowing Bankman-Fried before his crypto exchange collapsed earlier this month. Bankman-Fried was believed to be worth up to $26B in paper holdings before FTX collapsed earlier this month. In the wake of the collapse, Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO of the company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
With the story expected to be turned into a feature film, Deadline‘s sources say the deal could close at mid-seven figures. Making it a feather in the cap of Apple if it successfully beats out competitors like Amazon and Netflix. The report says others in the running for the project include Amazon Studios, David Heyman, writer Wells Tower, and David Yates, Netflix with David Fincher, and Sugar23 with Josh Gad.
Lewis’ book will attempt to explain the fall of Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire. He and FTX are now under investigation in the U.S. and other countries for possible securities violations.