A 2013 paper by Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother seems to push back against boring moral concepts such as “accountability” and “free will.”
Did these ideas shape the son?
Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried’s scholarly work on corporate ethics in some cases advocated for unorthodox attitudes towards right and wrong. There’s some nuance to Fried’s argument, but the core idea is that individuals should not face moral criticism for their mistakes because individual free will is an illusion.
The Faulty Moral Universe of Sam Bankman-Fried By David Z. Morris
The FTX CEO’s legal-scholar mother believed personal responsibility was an outdated concept. Did those ideas create a monster?
There’s also the sheer panoply of stories within the broader narrative – the polycule, the political donations, the failure of investor due diligence, the strategic philanthropic pose. Every angle of FTX seems to highlight some deeper 21st century social, technological or political quandary.
While the con itself was huge and sprawling, it’s not mere scale that makes the FTX fiasco the most riveting corporate fraud in living memory. There’s also the sheer panoply of stories within the broader narrative – the polycule, the political donations, the failure of investor due diligence, the strategic philanthropic pose. Every angle of FTX seems to highlight some deeper 21st century social, technological or political quandary.
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But for my money the most important and bizarre twist in the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried is that his parents were, until their son’s crimes were exposed, respected scholars of corporate tax law and ethics at Stanford University.