I could start this post by trying to write some eloquent thing about how life imitates art, and vice versa, but here’s the truth: what’s happening in 2018 feels increasingly unfathomable, and so I, like many others, have found comfort in drawing parallels to popular culture. Like the #resistance tweeters who tie red string between every new development in the horror show of modern day America and the world of Harry Potter, my new obsession is picking out all the similarities between Elon Musk’s ongoing fight with the SEC and the very good Showtime show Billions.
Spoilers for, let’s say, all three seasons of the very good Showtime show Billions ahead, even though I just started season three.
Billions revolves around two main characters. One is billionaire (ooh!) hedge-fund manager Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis), who is the chief investment officer at his namesake operation Axe Capital. His foil is Charles “Chuck” Rhoades Jr. (Paul Giamatti), the US attorney for Southern District of New York State.
Axe thrives on betting that certain companies will fail, which is how he made his billions (ahh!). But sometimes he goes a little too far beyond the law to make sure he’s right — or to make sure the company fails regardless of whether he was right in the first place — which is one reason why Rhoades, who worships justice, is so vehemently obsessed with taking him down.
Rhoades spends most of season 1 working off a tip from the Securities and Exchange Commission about a particular stock that Axe may have short-sold based on some ill-gotten information. The show is somewhat based on real-life battles between the government and the finance industry, but already we have a few parallels to the recent Musk situation, as well as a few differences. And before I go any further, yes, there is a bit player who appears in a few episodes who owns a rocket company (that Axe has a short position on) and is a clear nod to Musk. But he’s the least interesting version of Musk I could ever imagine. Anyway…
Some parallels:
One difference:
Halfway through season 1, Rhoades catches Axe’s firm trading on insider information. The two sides literally sit down at the table with a settlement that’s been structured and agreed to. But just before it’s ultimately finalized, hubris gets in the way and the settlement goes south and the two sides walk away.
One parallel:
Some differences:
Like I said, I find the similarities comforting, because it reminds me there are ways to put finer lines on what’s happening with Musk if I just let myself go a little galaxy brain.
The differences are also instructive! For all of Axe’s swagger, the showrunners paint him as a man who knew when to quit — or at least retreat until he had a new plan of attack. He was going to take that settlement and live to fight another day, at least before Rhoades taunted him. And Axe does seem to back off the throttle through a good chunk of season 2, at least until he sees another chance to strike at Rhoades. Not even temporary restraint is in Musk’s playbook.
But Axe’s eventual swing at Rhoades is so big, and he takes so many risks in the process, that he walks right into a trap and winds up arrested. His contempt for Rhoades is somewhat blinding, in a way that doesn’t feel all that different from Musk’s hatred of Tesla short sellers. Both of them have this opposing force in their lives that they feel must be vanquished, and neither will stop until they feel that task is complete. In the process, all could be lost. As patient as Axe can be, he can’t let things go. Musk sure seems to be in the same boat.
One other stray parallel:
One last stray difference:
In closing, I am not uncertain that Bobby Axelrod would short Tesla.