FTX staff never saw the romance Netflix’s Altruists sells, says Constance Wang

Most FTX employees had no idea that Sam Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison were dating until they read about it after the bankruptcy, former co-CEO Constance Wang said Friday.

Her post on X was in response to the trailer for Netflix’s FTX series “The Altruists.”

Fewer than 200 employees worked 16- to 18-hour days at the exchange

Wang said she never saw Bankman-Fried put an arm around anyone. She never saw Ellison get aggressive like the trailer depicts her, and recalls a quiet, mild-mannered colleague who was often lost in thought.

“FTX’s collapse ruined so many people’s lives, including ours, and Netflix decided to make it a love story,” Wang wrote. “Shame on you.”

Wang was chief operating officer in charge of FTX operations from early 2019, before FTX even had a name, she wrote. She took over as co-CEO in the final months before the exchange’s collapse in November 2022.

She said she was the last person to depart the Bahamas after Bankman-Fried was extradited and that she lost everything she had with the company. Many people messaged her about the trailer, and watching it made her throw up, she wrote.

Wang challenged the popular narrative that FTX staff were partying in the Bahamas, leading to the collapse. FTX had under 200 people on staff, she said, and many put in 16- to 18-hour days on little sleep.

She said she has no interest in defending the people who caused the collapse.

Madison Hu plays the former co-CEO in eight episodes from November 19

“The Altruists” is an eight-episode series and will debut on Netflix on November 19. Julia Garner plays Ellison and Anthony Boyle plays Bankman-Fried.

Wang is also a character in the series. Madison Hu plays her, in the cast Netflix confirmed alongside the trailer on October 8.

Netflix describes the series as “a toxic love story inspired by a real fraud.” According to Cryptopolitan, showrunner Graham Moore described the duo as altruists who talked each other into crime.

Garner had only two Ellison recordings to examine.

Her LinkedIn profile shows she co-founded Pacifica, a trading venue, in early 2025.

A jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts in November 2023, and he is serving 25 years. The Second Circuit affirmed the conviction on June 12.

In September he took the case to the Supreme Court, seeking review of the conviction and an $11 billion forfeiture order. He still denies fraud, and claimed in a June prison phone interview that customers had been paid back about 170% of their deposits.

Ellison pled guilty and testified that she and Bankman-Fried used Alameda to deploy billions taken from FTX customers. She got a two-year sentence.

Cryptopolitan reported that she spent more than a year in prison before being placed in community confinement.