Whether Shull was an inspiration for the character, “Billions” has regularly tiptoed close to real life. Critics have commented on parallels between hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod, the show’s high-living protagonist, and Steve Cohen, whose SAC Capital pleaded guilty to insider-trading. Preet Bharara, the federal prosecutor who led the SAC investigation, has said he had dinner with actor Paul Giamatti while he was researching his role as the show’s hard-charging U.S. attorney. Koppelman and Levien have said that Rhoades, like other characters, isn’t based on any one person.
Wall Street has other real-life performance coaches. Tony Robbins, who’s coached hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, is someone the show’s creators have mentioned in interviews. The late psychologist Ari Kiev channeled his experiences boosting the confidence of depressed patients into techniques for professional athletes and traders, and once worked for Cohen’s hedge fund.
Shull argues that the similarities between the scenes in “Billions" and those in her own book are so strong as to constitute a copyright violation. It’s now possible that a show based on the egos of powerful Wall Street executives, the law enforcement officers who chase them and the people who live in this opulent world could spawn a real-life court drama.
“It’s like I’m part of one of the plots,” Shull said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.