SBF

Chapter 33Cult of Sam

One of my sources (who didn't want to be named) told me a story about arriving to work on the FTX campus in the Bahamas to work on one of the venture‐backed teams. The source told me about going on a walk with one of the higher‐ups. The executive explained that my source was now hanging out in a cult of Sam.

The new arrival took it as a joke and laughed, but they later realized it had never been meant as a joke. People at FTX were committed 100 percent to do whatever it took for FTX to succeed, and part of that was hewing close to the vision of its wonder boy founder.

Part of it was money, of course. “They were printing,” I was told. “The bonuses were good.”

As to other motivations, the source couldn't really say, but people behaved as if they were extraordinarily driven by something. He also noted that they didn't have a lot in the way of distractions. While it might sound glamorous to work from The Bahamas, the truth was that their office park in Nassau was a really boring place. It was a parking lot with some buildings—nothing like the vibrant life the team had left behind in Hong Kong.

But who had time for life outside of work, anyway?

Tackett, who supported FTX’s power users, didn't seem to be personally moved by SBF's charisma, but something drove him. When he described how much work he was doing, it seemed unsustainable. No one told him to work that much, he said, it was just that there was so much to do.

Tackett wasn't motivated by saving the world. ...