We take a look at some of the key concepts featured in the show and whether Billions really is a true story.
The show’s debut series originally aired in 2016. The hit US TV show centres around investor Bobby Axelrod (aka Axe) who is played by the star of Homeland Damian Lewis. Axe is a hedge fund manager that often plays on the wrong side of law by obtaining and using insider information to inform his trading.
What does Axelrod actually do?
In the show, Axelrod is the owner of Axe Capital which is a hedge fund located in New York. A hedge fund is an organisation that pools capital together from either private investors or larger institutional investors. It then invests these funds in various different assets, including companies listed on the stock market.
In a hedge fund, the manager of the fund is essentially investing the pool of funds provided by investors into investments they believe will generate a profit for their investors. The investors will typically be charged fees by the hedge fund in return. In the TV show Axe Capital have a very successful track record. We can assume this allows Axe to charge his investors high fees. In the show we see that Axe often use some questionable tactics in pursuit of success, in particular insider trading. This is where somebody buys or sells a stock listed on a public stock exchange based on information that is not public. In Billions we see occasions where Axe obtains information about companies before the information is made public. This allows him to profit. The practice of insider trading of this nature is illegal.
Going long and going short
Throughout the show we have often seen Axe get pumped up and talk about going “short” or going “long”. This can be quite a complex area so we will keep this brief to give you a basic understanding.
Essentially it is betting on how you think a stock is going to perform. A short position would be taken if you believe the value of the stock is going to go down. Taking a short position usually involves borrowing shares from a broker to sell, then buying them back on the market at a lower price once the share price has fallen. This allows a profit to be made from the difference in price. Such kind of arrangement is usually deployed only by professional investors.
A long position (which means buying the shares and holding them) would be taken if you believe the stock is going to go up in value.
Axe uses this investing mechanism to his advantage in the show by “shorting” stocks he expects will fall in value based on information he has obtained.
Is Billions a true story?
In the Showtime/Sky TV series, the character of Bobby Axelrod is said to be loosely based on Steven Cohen. Cohen was the hedge fund manager of S.A.C Capital. In 2012 the firm was caught up in an insider-trading saga which eventually resulted in the firm being closed. This was a result of it being imposed with penalties of $1.8 billion. Cohen was subsequently banned from managing other people’s money. However, that ban has now expired and he is back running a hedge fund called Point72.
In theearly seasons of Billions, we see U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades, played by Paul Giamatti lodged in a legal battle to bring Axelrod down. Chuck Rhoades’ character is said to be based on Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who prosecuted Steven Cohen.
Chuck’s wife Wendy Rhoades (played by Maggie Siff) is a close confidant of Axelrod. Over the course of the series we have seen her work for Axe Capital in a role where she has coached both him and his staff to work at an optimal level. The character of Wendy Rhoades is inspired by Tony Robbins, a world renown performance coach who has worked with thousands of people including Wall Street titans and former US presidents.
In summary – true story or fantasy?
So is Billions a true story? Well, it’s not entirely factual. However, the main storyline is inspired by the Cohen S.A.C Capital Case and the investing concepts we see in the show are real. Season 4 of Billions is airing on Sky Atlantic now.
If you’re keen to learn more make sure you check out the rest of our website or grab a copy of our freeBeginner’s Guide to Investing in the Stock Market.
All our content is provided for educational purposes only, to help you make your own decisions. We don’t provide personalised advice and therefore our content should not be considered an invitation, inducement or recommendation to engage in any particular investment activity. Please review our disclaimer and website terms for full details.
So is Billions a true story? Well, it's not entirely factual. However, the main storyline is inspired by the Cohen S.A.C
Cohen S.A.C
Steven A. Cohen (born June 11, 1956) is an American hedge-fund manager and owner of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball since September 14, 2020, owning just over 97% of the team. He is the founder of hedge fund Point72 Asset Management and S.A.C.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Steve_Cohen_(businessman)
Rhoades is based on Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan from 2009 to 2017, and the series was inspired by real-life federal prosecutions of financial crime. Bharara's 2013 prosecution of hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen of S.A.C.
Axe Capital is a group of hedge funds founded by Bobby Axelrod in 1992. The firm employed approximately 800 people in 2010 across its offices located in Westport, Connecticut, but located later to Manhattan, New York.
He started out trading in college and went on to work with Wall Street firm, Gruntal & Co, eventually turning over $100,000 a day for the company. In 1992, he went solo, setting up SAC Capital Advisors with $10 million of his own cash. Two decades later, it was managing $14 billion in equity.
In the Showtime/Sky TV series, the character of Bobby Axelrod is said to be loosely based on Steven Cohen. Cohen was the hedge fund manager of S.A.C Capital. In 2012 the firm was caught up in an insider-trading saga which eventually resulted in the firm being closed.
Of course, the billionaire manages to bag himself an invite. He's going in with a plan; to bend the ear of the group's ultimate political kingmaker George Pike IV, also known as Fourth (Griffin Dunne).
However, Mexica does not have any authority to issue licenses for forex trading or regulate brokers offering forex activities. That means Axen Capital is not overseen by any regulators. Investors' funds in this broker are unsafe and cannot be protected by any law. Therefore, it is a scam.
Axe Capital is a hedge fund run by Bobby Axelrod. Hedge fund managers: The name comes from the term hedging, and hedge fund managers like Bobby Axelrod are hired to reduce risk, regardless of how the market performs.
Who Is the Richest Hedge Fund Manager? Ken Griffin of Citadel is both the richest hedge fund manager and the highest paid. In 2022, he earned $41. billion, and by the beginning of 2023 his net worth was estimated at $35 billion.
As a Russian oligarch with dark ties to a massive oil empire, Grigor Andolov is the wealthiest character to appear on Billions. Said to be worth somewhere between $10-20 billion dollars, Andolov wields his tremendous wealth to influence geopolitical players.
In real life, Lewis was leaving "Billions" to return to life in England for personal reasons. So Axe was written off (exiled to Switzerland) to avoid arrest by Chuck, thanks to a tipoff from Prince. Prince took over Axe's throne and renamed the kingdom Michael Prince Capital (MPC).
While the example of Sandicot is fictional and also exceptional, it illustrates a rule of school finance in the United States, something true, which is that public school districts themselves are beholden to private investors who loan them the funds they need for their infrastructure costs.
Bruce Goldfarb, founder and CEO of Okapi Partners, says that while “Billions” exaggerates some scenes for entertainment value, “it really does capture the social milieu that some hedge fund players inhabit — the way people live, their wives, the social events they attend after-hours.
The character Wendy Rhoades, in Billions, is a psychiatrist but she is also the in-house high-performance coach at Axe Capital, the hedge fund central to the show's plot.
And they too decide its time to move on from the Axe universe, sort of. Like Wendy, Taylor yearns to give back after more than proving their worth at making piles of money by outsmarting others.
The Owl retreat featured in the show "Billions" is not a real place but a fictional setting within the storyline[2]. However, there are real-life exclusive retreats like Bohemian Grove in Sonoma County, California, which hosts influential figures for secretive gatherings and rituals around a massive owl statue[4][5].
Chuck Rhoades Played by Paul Giamatti - Billions - Paramount+ Brilliant and brash, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades is leading the fight against financial corruption in America. As the most powerful prosecutor in the country, he's won 81 insider trading cases -- and lost zero.
His ancestry is Italian (from his paternal grandfather), German, English, Dutch, Scottish, and Irish. Paul graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall prep school, majored in English at Yale, and obtained his Master's Degree in Fine Arts, with his major in drama from the Yale University School of Drama.
Address: Apt. 915 481 Sipes Cliff, New Gonzalobury, CO 80176
Phone: +6773780339780
Job: Sales Executive
Hobby: Gaming, Jogging, Rugby, Video gaming, Handball, Ice skating, Web surfing
Introduction: My name is Carmelo Roob, I am a modern, handsome, delightful, comfortable, attractive, vast, good person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
