"Now And Then" and SBF
A song and a con-man
One will live for infinity in the cultural consciousness, another will likely live for infinity in jail.
The two topics I wrote about this past week could not be more different. Yet they are similar in the sense of timelessness. They will each live in history forever. Albeit for very different reasons.
“Now And Then”: The Perfect Beatles Conclusion and the Perfect Song For Loss
My mom described it best. The new Beatles track, “Now And Then”, can be summed up in one word: haunting. As if the ghost of John Lennon was resurrected from the dead to spill his loving soul on the world one final time.
The story of how the song came to be, some 50 years in the making, captures the essence of who the Beatles truly were. Before getting there though, I cannot stress enough how much this song means in my current state. As someone dealing with recent loss, it’s deeply comforting and relatable.
“Now and then
I miss you
Oh, now and then
I want you to be there for me
Always return to me”
It’s a classic Beatles track; perfectly designed to target a specific emotion or situation while having mass appeal and effect. Let’s explore why this song will stand the test of time like many other notable Beatles tracks.
Sam Bankman-Fried: Going Infinite To Jail
Imagine researching a book about Sam Bankman-Fried only for the FTX debacle to unfold in front of you. That’s what happened to Michael Lewis while publishing Going Infinite. Like Walter Isaacson, who was writing a biography on Elon Musk when Musk decided to buy Twitter, both authors had head-on collisions with stories they didn’t initially intend to write.
For Lewis, the craziness and insanity of the Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) story ultimately wrote itself. Or it should have, at least.
Before I explain why Going Infinite was my least favorite of the Lewis books I’ve read, from Liar’s Poker and Moneyball, to Flash Boys and The Big Short, let’s first focus on the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried. Someone who went from the Forbes richest list to being found guilty on seven felony counts, with likely decades of prison time ahead for orchestrating a scheme to steal as much as $10 billion from FTX users.
Those aren’t quite Madoff numbers, but they’re significant.
“On our walk I asked him how much it would take for him to sell FTX and go do something other than make money. He thought the question over. ‘One hundred and fifty billion dollars,’ he finally said — though he added that he had use for ‘infinity dollars.’” — Michael Lewis, Going Infinite
How do you want to be remembered?
SBF lived a life where the ends justified the means. The Beatles lived a life where they tried to spread as much love and positivity in the world as possible.
The choice is yours.
It’s not hard to figure out what the world needs more of right now.