Picture Credit: Netflix
Julia Garner is officially heading back to Netflix, and this time she’s teaming up with Anthony Boyle to tackle the biggest financial scandal of the decade. The Altruists, a brand-new 8-episode limited crime series chronicling the meteoric rise and disastrous fall of FTX, has just been revealed to premiere globally on Netflix on November 19th.
If you’ve been following our reporting here at What’s on Netflix, you’ll know this project has been brewing for a little while. We first broke the news that a Sam Bankman-Fried biopic series was in the works at Netflix back in May 2025, and we later followed up with exclusive intel detailing the production of the limited crime series The Altruists as well as getting snaps throughout production.
Now, Netflix has formally pulled back the curtain, dropping first-look photos over to itself exclusively via Tudumb and confirming the full ensemble cast that will bring “Gen Z’s own Bonnie & Clyde” to life.
Here’s everything you need to know about The Altruists.
What is The Altruists about?
Drawing inspiration from extensive reporting by Kevin T. Dugan and Jen Wieczner for New York Magazine, the series will chart the dizzying world of cryptocurrency, focusing on the two young executives at the center of the $8 billion fraud.
Here’s the official logline provided by Netflix:
“The story of Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists who tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye – before they were accused of stealing $8 billion and became Gen Z’s own Bonnie & Clyde.”
The project is helmed by Creator, Writer, and Showrunner Graham Moore (who won an Oscar for writing The Imitation Game), alongside Co-Showrunner and Writer Jacqueline Hoyt (The Underground Railroad, The Leftovers).
Speaking to Netflix, Graham Moore expressed his fascination with the real-life figures behind the headlines:
“From the very beginning, I was so fascinated by both Sam’s and Caroline’s real stories. Those are both characters who I could not have possibly made up had I tried — I’m not nearly a good enough writer to create characters as fascinating as either Sam Bankman-Fried or Caroline Ellison… This form [of storytelling] allowed us to tell not just a kind of headline version of the story, but to tell what we believed was the much more fascinating, intimate, personal, deeply heartbreaking story of these two people.”
Jacqueline Hoyt echoed that sentiment, teasing a nuanced look at the disgraced crypto-royalty:
“I think viewers will find our deeply intimate story of these two individuals with morally conflicted motives fascinating, and will ultimately have a better understanding of why they did what they did.”
Who is starring in The Altruists on Netflix?
Julia Garner (Ozark, Inventing Anna) returns to her stomping grounds at Netflix to play Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research. Starring opposite her as the disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is Anthony Boyle, who has been having a phenomenal run recently with standout roles in Masters of the Air and Manhunt.
They are joined by a massive roster of series regulars:
- Alex Lawther (The End of the F***ing World) as Sam Trabucco
- Karan Soni (Deadpool) as Nishad Singh
- Naomi Okada as Claire Watanabe
- Madison Hu (The Brothers Sun) as Constance Wang
- Matt Rife (Natural Selection) as Ryan Salame
- Eugene Young as Gary Wang
Rounding out the additional cast are Paul Reiser as Joe Bankman, Robin Weigert as Barbara Fried, Maddie Hasson as Lauren Remington Platt, Marianna Phung as Lily Zhang, Jennifer Grey as Sara Fisher Ellison, Terry Chen as CZ, William Mapother as Dr. George Lerner, Jack Greenlees as Will MacAskill, Hudson Williams as Duncan Rheingans-Yoo, Elizabeth Adams as Hannah Miller, Hannah Galway as Lucy, Donald Heng as Hot Steve, David James Lewis as Bill, and Jasmine Lukuku as Valerie.
Who is behind the series?
As we previously noted in our ongoing coverage of The Altruists, the production team behind the camera is just as impressive as the cast in front of it.
The series is executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama alongside Jessie Dicovitsky and Vinnie Malhotra for Higher Ground Productions (the powerhouse banner behind Netflix hits like Leave the World Behind and Bodkin). Scoop Wasserstein is also on board to executive produce for New York Magazine/Vox Media Studios, alongside Tonia Davis, James Ponsoldt, Lauren Morelli, and star Julia Garner.
On the directing front, the 8 episodes will be split:
- James Ponsoldt (Episode 101)
- Kyle Patrick Alvarez (Episodes 102 & 103)
- Mairzee Almas (Episodes 104 & 105)
- Graham Moore (Episode 106)
- Silver Tree (Episodes 107 & 108)
The Altruists will drop all 8 episodes exclusively on Netflix on November 19th.
