The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange will likely be documented in countless books. One of the first entrants is "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon" by Michael Lewis. Lewis recently appeared on the CBS TV newsmagazine "60 Minutes" to talk about the crazy real-life story.
One of the more interesting tidbits from his book and the interview is that Bankman-Fried paid NFL superstar Tom Brady $55 million… for what amounted to about a week's work.
Granted, that's a week spread out across three years, but still not a bad deal for Brady. "He paid Tom Brady $55 million for 20 hours a year for three years," said Lewis, who was granted close access to Bankman-Fried during the final months of FTX. During the FTX glory days, Bankman-Fried had a penchant for spending large amounts of money on celebrity endorsements, spending big to get huge names on board, names like Brady, Steph Curry, and even "Curb Your Enthusiasm" auteur Larry David for one memorable Super Bowl commercial.
According to Michael Lewis, Steph Curry was paid $35 million to perform roughly the same amount of work as Tom Brady, while Larry David earned $10 million to star in one Super Bowl commercial for the now-defunct crypto company. That $10 million fee for Larry is on top of the $25 million FTX paid to produce the commercial, which also happened to feature a subtle cameo from Sam's father Joseph Bankman, who was apparently a huge Larry David fan.
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When news of Bankman-Fried's alleged crimes and the implosion of FTX first reached Tom Brady, Lewis told "60 Minutes" the quarterback was initially "crushed" before his attitude evolved:
"[Brady] really liked him and he really liked the hope that he brought…As time has gone by and he's ceased to get a really good explanation about what's happened, I think [Brady] is just like, 'He tricked me. I'm angry. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore.'"
Today many of the celebrities who endorsed FTX, including other big names like Shaquille O'Neal and Brady's ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, are facing a class-action lawsuit from FTX investors.
