4 ms·

> My guess is they made money of this clown I've always felt this was probably the case. Take an idiot that needs to feel important, tell him he's a "boy geniu

> My guess is they made money of this clown I've always felt this was probably the case. Take an idiot that needs to feel important, tell him he's a "boy genius" who can do no wrong and is always going to be misunderstood, and you basically have the perfect patsy. Till the end SBF just could not let go of that idea that he was smarter than everyone else, never realizing that this was always just a marketing gimmick. At least Caroline Ellison had the sense to realize that she was living a delusion and quickly did what she could to walk away with minimal harm done to herself. In a few years she'll probably find herself making book deals and getting paid outrageous consulting fees once memory fades enough.

rchaud 3y ago
> In a few years she'll probably find herself making book deals and getting paid outrageous consulting fees Like Jordan Belfort of Wolf of Wall Street infamy, or Andy Fastow of Enron. Why shouldn't she get in on the action? American publishers love a comeback story.
JohnBooty 3y ago
Take an idiot that needs to feel important, tell him he's a "boy genius" This points to something I've always wondered about SBF: why did anybody think he was a genius? I know very specific reasons people think Musk, Jobs, Gates, Zuck, and others are geniuses even if I don't agree in every case. But... SBF? What did he even allegedly do (or preside over) that seemed smart or unique? It was... a crypto exchange. They had their own coin. Uh. Those are not unique things. I don't get it. But your comment made me think. Maybe it was just an empty bubble of perception. VCs pretended he was a genius so they could use him, and told everybody he was a genius, so everybody thought he was a genius even though nobody could point to why they thought that way.
- low_tech_love 3y ago
  The crypto crowd needed a genius, and he kinda fit the image, so they went with it. It’s not that different to any other political movement; leaders are made by others, not themselves. It’s natural for us to focus on the person itself as if they are the ones getting all the benefits but all the crypto scammers benefitted from having an “altruistic crypto king” as a media figure.
- timy2shoes 3y ago
  There was a puff piece from Sequoia[0] that tries to make the case that he is an altruistic genius and it hasn’t really aged well. [0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20221027181005/https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/sam-bankman-fried-spotlight/ https://web.archive.org/web/20221027181005/https://www.sequo... (wayback machine is needed because sequoia has taken it down)
- spoonjim 3y ago
  He went to MIT and was employed at Jane Street, this doesn’t mean he was a Steve Jobs talent but he is certainly high IQ.
  - fennecbutt 3y ago
    I'd use Steve Wozniak over Steve Jobs when describing talent.
    - rounce 3y ago
      Steve Jobs had a talent for telling stories and getting people to believe them.
      - JohnBooty 3y ago
        Yeah even if one thinks negatively of Jobs, comparing SBF to young Jobs is a joke. SBF founded FTX in 2019 when he was ~27 years old. At that point he had gone to MIT and done some arbitage stuff. More than I've accomplished but I mean, I'm not really seeing anything that ticketed this guy for stardom. By age 27, Jobs had founded Apple Computer and was one of the major players in launching the whole personal computing industry.
    - JohnBooty 3y ago
      I mean, even if we feel negatively about Jobs, we can also point to a pretty wide range of accomplishments he helmed. Even outside of Apple. He was one of the founders of Pixar, purchasing it from Lucasfilm. Also famous for a certain brand of charisma or at least persausiveness. One can not think very highly of him, but also see why investors would be like let's give this guy some money, perhaps lots of money. I don't think highly of Elon Musk but I have zero difficulty understanding why people would think he's a genius sort of guy and give him money. Even I have to admit he's been at the helm for some wild achievements. Also certainly a charismatic guy in some ways. Not going to have a shortage of money thrown at his next venture. But SBF? Again... what was anybody seeing in this guy? Must have just been "right place right time" when the crypto hype wave was cresting.

rchaud 3y ago

> In a few years she'll probably find herself making book deals and getting paid outrageous consulting fees Like Jordan Belfort of Wolf of Wall Street infamy, or Andy Fastow of Enron. Why shouldn't she get in on the action? American publishers love a comeback story.

JohnBooty 3y ago

Take an idiot that needs to feel important, tell him he's a "boy genius" This points to something I've always wondered about SBF: why did anybody think he was a genius? I know very specific reasons people think Musk, Jobs, Gates, Zuck, and others are geniuses even if I don't agree in every case. But... SBF? What did he even allegedly do (or preside over) that seemed smart or unique? It was... a crypto exchange. They had their own coin. Uh. Those are not unique things. I don't get it. But your comment made me think. Maybe it was just an empty bubble of perception. VCs pretended he was a genius so they could use him, and told everybody he was a genius, so everybody thought he was a genius even though nobody could point to why they thought that way.

low_tech_love 3y ago
The crypto crowd needed a genius, and he kinda fit the image, so they went with it. It’s not that different to any other political movement; leaders are made by others, not themselves. It’s natural for us to focus on the person itself as if they are the ones getting all the benefits but all the crypto scammers benefitted from having an “altruistic crypto king” as a media figure.
timy2shoes 3y ago
There was a puff piece from Sequoia[0] that tries to make the case that he is an altruistic genius and it hasn’t really aged well. [0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20221027181005/https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/sam-bankman-fried-spotlight/ https://web.archive.org/web/20221027181005/https://www.sequo... (wayback machine is needed because sequoia has taken it down)
spoonjim 3y ago
He went to MIT and was employed at Jane Street, this doesn’t mean he was a Steve Jobs talent but he is certainly high IQ.
- fennecbutt 3y ago
  I'd use Steve Wozniak over Steve Jobs when describing talent.
  - rounce 3y ago
    Steve Jobs had a talent for telling stories and getting people to believe them.
    - JohnBooty 3y ago
      Yeah even if one thinks negatively of Jobs, comparing SBF to young Jobs is a joke. SBF founded FTX in 2019 when he was ~27 years old. At that point he had gone to MIT and done some arbitage stuff. More than I've accomplished but I mean, I'm not really seeing anything that ticketed this guy for stardom. By age 27, Jobs had founded Apple Computer and was one of the major players in launching the whole personal computing industry.
  - JohnBooty 3y ago
    I mean, even if we feel negatively about Jobs, we can also point to a pretty wide range of accomplishments he helmed. Even outside of Apple. He was one of the founders of Pixar, purchasing it from Lucasfilm. Also famous for a certain brand of charisma or at least persausiveness. One can not think very highly of him, but also see why investors would be like let's give this guy some money, perhaps lots of money. I don't think highly of Elon Musk but I have zero difficulty understanding why people would think he's a genius sort of guy and give him money. Even I have to admit he's been at the helm for some wild achievements. Also certainly a charismatic guy in some ways. Not going to have a shortage of money thrown at his next venture. But SBF? Again... what was anybody seeing in this guy? Must have just been "right place right time" when the crypto hype wave was cresting.