Wang says major publications and an upcoming Netflix drama got the story of FTX's final days wrong
Constance Wang has watched a lot of people tell the story of FTX. She was there for it, and she says plenty of them got it wrong.
The former FTX chief operating officer is pushing back on how major publications covered the exchange’s collapse. Her sharpest criticism is aimed at Netflix’s upcoming series The Altruists, a scripted retelling of the saga that she says misrepresents what life inside the company was actually like.
A trailer that did not land well
In an October 9, 2026 post on X, Wang reacted to the trailer for The Altruists. She did not hold back.
The trailer made her “physically throw up,” Wang wrote.
The series reportedly frames FTX’s downfall as a “toxic love story” between founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, who ran sister trading firm Alameda Research. Julia Garner plays Ellison. The show is produced by Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, and is scheduled to premiere on November 19, 2026.
What Wang says actually happened
According to Wang, FTX’s core team never grew beyond 200 employees. That small group, she says, routinely worked 16 to 18 hours a day.
She also says most of those staffers had no idea Bankman-Fried and Ellison were romantically linked. By her account, that detail only became widely known to the team after the exchange filed for bankruptcy.
In mid-October 2026, Wang went further. She called the romantic framing of the series laughable and said Bankman-Fried’s focus was on effective altruism, the philosophy of directing resources toward doing the most good possible.
She also took issue with portrayals of a party culture at FTX. Wang says the company’s internal ethos was built around global impact, not late-night excess.
Wang also says she is portrayed in the Netflix series without having been consulted.
Background: an $8 to $9 billion hole
None of this changes the core facts of the collapse. FTX’s bankruptcy exposed a shortfall of $8 to $9 billion in customer funds, tied to Alameda Research’s misuse of assets.
Wang joined FTX as COO in early 2019. In the exchange’s final months, she became co-CEO, putting her near the top of the organization during its most chaotic stretch.
She was the subject of a year-long Department of Justice investigation. She was never charged.
Since then, Wang has moved on to a new venture. In early 2025, she co-founded Pacifica, a crypto trading platform. Pacifica reported $10 billion in trading volume in October 2026.
