Former FTX Executive Criticizes Netflix's Upcoming Series
Constance Wang, a former FTX chief operating officer and later co-CEO, objected to Netflix's portrayal of the exchange's collapse in The Altruists. She said the trailer turns a multibillion-dollar bankruptcy into a love story centered on Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison. Netflix plans to release all eight episodes on November 19; Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Constance Wang was FTX's chief operating officer from 2019 and later co-CEO in its final months. She described a team of under 200 people working up to 16–18 hours daily — not the partying image she says the trailer conveys. She added that she lost substantial money in the collapse and was the last to leave the Bahamas after Bankman-Fried's extradition.
Netflix's eight-episode The Altruists premieres November 19, with Anthony Boyle as Bankman-Fried and Julia Garner as Caroline Ellison. Creator Graham Moore said he wanted to show two people initially convinced they could improve the world. FTX collapsed in November 2022 after a liquidity crisis exposed ties to Alameda Research and misuse of customer funds.
The series could shape how a broad audience remembers FTX's collapse, potentially framing a multibillion-dollar fraud around a personal relationship rather than investor harm. Former employees like Wang may find that portrayal at odds with their experience, while viewers unfamiliar with the case could absorb a simplified narrative. For the crypto industry, renewed attention may reinforce existing skepticism about exchange oversight, though entertainment coverage rarely drives policy on its own.