Amanda Perobelli/Reuters.
- FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried did not know how to instruct his guard dog to kill on command, according to Michael Lewis' new book.
- "When Sam was in a room with the dog, it always felt as if some accident was waiting to happen," Lewis wrote in the book.
- His book on Bankman-Fried, "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon," was released on Tuesday.
FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried did not know how to instruct his guard dog to kill on command, according to Michael Lewis' biography on the fallen crypto titan.
The dog — a German shepherd named Sandor — was purchased by Bankman-Fried's parents for security reasons, Lewis wrote in the book. It had been trained to attack on command — in German.
Bankman-Fried's parents learned the attack commands, but not the former CEO of FTX.
"And so when Sam was in a room with the dog, it always felt as if some accident was waiting to happen," Lewis wrote. "It would have been very Sam Bankman-Fried to have been eaten by his own guard dog."
Sandor appears to be the same 75-pound dog mentioned in a Puck interview with Bankman-Fried published in January. Sandor appears to be the same 75-pound dog mentioned in a Puck interview with Bankman-Fried published in January. Already fully trained when the family got Sandor, the dog would attack in response to a "secret word," per Forbes. The media outlet spent a day with Bankman in January when he was under house arrest.
Lewis' book, "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon," was released on Tuesday — the same day Bankman-Fried's criminal fraud trial started.
Bankman-Fried faces seven charges, including fraud and conspiracy relating to the FTX's collapse. He has pleaded not guilty.
Crypto exchange FTX — which was worth $32 billion in early 2022 — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11 of the same year after a week-long liquidity crisis.
A representative for Bankman-Fried declined to comment to Insider.