In a literal example of "fortune favours the bold", a Netflix director has recently made the news for diverting money meant for a film's budget, and gambling on crypto.
The most interesting part of this is, that this director multiplied his initial investment by more than 6 times.
Carl Erik Rinsch, the director of Netflix's sci-fi series Conquest, had a wild ride in the stock and crypto markets over the last few months.
Rinsch reportedly used nearly $11 million of his show's budget to gamble with stocks and crypto and made millions on a single $4 million Dogecoin bet.
According to a recent report from The New York Times, Rinsch got an initial budget of $44 million from Netflix in 2020 to make the new sci-fi series he'd come up with.
However, a year and a half later, Rinsch called Netflix back, claiming that he needed more money to finish the show.
Netflix agreed, and wired him another $11 million, bringing the total to about $55 million.
However, instead of using the money to complete the show like he'd told Netflix, Rinsch allegedly took out almost $11 million and split it in two.
$6 million went into pharmaceutical companies on the stock market, as well as the S&P 500. However, all of this money went down the drain in a few weeks, leaving him with a little over $4 million.
In what might have been a flash of desperation, Rinsch transferred the rest of the money into the crypto exchange, Kraken.
Soon after doing this, he used it all to buy Dogecoin at less than a cent at the time. This was around when Dogecoin had all the hype, thanks to influencers like Elon Musk. Rinsch held on to his DOGE while its price soared, and eventually sold right at the top in May 2021, when the price of the memecoin soared to over 70 cents.
By the time Rinsch took out all of his profits, the New York Times reports that he had a crypto balance of about $27 million.
According to a forensic accountant Rinsch's ex-wife hired for divorce proceedings, Rinsch immediately spent his newfound riches on an almost $380,000 watch, five Rolls Royces, a Ferrari, designer clothes, and high-end furnishings.
Rinsch also stated that some of the things he purchased were props for Conquest, which he still planned to complete.
Netflix spent $55 million on the sci-fi series but has not received a single episode yet. Things took a twist from here.
Rinsch is now suing Netflix, accusing the streaming service of breaching its contract and owing him $14 million in damages.
According to the director's argument, the money he used for gambling was actually his, and he did not violate any terms of the agreement.
Netflix on the other hand, denies owing Rinsch anything and maintains that the director failed to deliver the show he promised.
Both parties are now entrenched in a legal battle in private court proceedings, and a ruling is expected soon.
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