Good morning, friends!
Welcome to all of you who are new here after reading my review on the new Elizabeth Holmes ‘You Can See Everything’ documentary.
I’m a profile writer. I write about people whose lives I find fascinating, and I try to understand what makes them them. What shaped them? How do they think? What do they believe that the rest of us don’t? And what can we learn from the decisions they’ve made, the risks they’ve taken, and the mistakes they’ve survived? (See: Anthony Scaramucci, Ryan Serhant, Jake + Logan Paul)
And now, some news of my own: I’m launching a second newsletter!
It’s called The Portrait, and it’s a free publication under The Profile umbrella featuring quick, sharp takes on the people making headlines — who they are, what happened, and why it matters.
I’m doing it because I miss digging into the stories behind the headlines and asking the questions no one else seems to be asking. You will receive the first edition next week.
You can unsubscribe from The Portrait at any time if you’d prefer to stick with the Sunday profile rundown. But if you stay, you’ll automatically be entered into the running to become my best friend.
I hope you enjoy it! You can check out the two latest Portrait takes here:
Reese Witherspoon sold Hello Sunshine at a ~$900M valuation. She’s getting it back for low-to-mid eight figures. The media is calling it “a homecoming.” It’s not. Here are my thoughts:
Nathan Fielder came out with an absolute banger of a documentary on Elizabeth Holmes, but I couldn’t believe that no one was talking about how the entire point of the doc was meant to demonstrate how easy it is to manipulate you the viewer.
— Polina
THE PROFILES.
— Crypto’s most powerful ex-convict [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The billionaire reshaping financial infrastructure
— The comedic genius who almost didn’t make it
— Hollywood’s most innovative young director
— The mastermind behind the Elizabeth Holmes documentary
THE PEOPLE.
Crypto’s most powerful ex-convict (gift link): Changpeng Zhao went from convicted criminal to crypto royalty in less than two years. The Binance founder, worth an estimated $114 billion, served four months in prison for violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws before receiving a presidential pardon from Trump. Today, he lives in a nine-bedroom Abu Dhabi villa, advises world leaders, and rubs shoulders with royalty. (The New York Times)
The billionaire reshaping financial infrastructure (gift link): Jackie Reses went from running carnival games on the Jersey Shore at 16 to becoming a billionaire banker at the center of the fintech revolution. After stints at Goldman Sachs, Yahoo, and Jack Dorsey’s Square, she acquired a controlling stake in Missouri-based Lead Bank for $56 million in 2022. Today, the bank powers fintech giants like Stripe, Affirm, and Nubank, is valued at $1.5 billion, and is on track to generate more than $600 million in revenue this year. (Bloomberg)
The comedic genius who almost didn’t make it: Before Larry David created Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, he was a spectacular failure. He sold defective bras, drove taxis, bombed as a stand-up comedian, and once tearfully told his mother he’d never amount to anything. But his greatest liability turned out to be his greatest asset — persistence. He repeatedly risked his career rather than bend to Hollywood executives. As one friend put it, Larry doesn’t have “fuck-you money” because he’s successful. He’s successful because he’s always acted like he had it.
Hollywood’s most innovative young director: At 30, filmmaker Lance Oppenheim is turning the documentary world upside down. His latest film, You Can See Everything, blurs the line between truth, performance, and manipulation. Oppenheim, who once dressed as Steven Spielberg for Halloween as a fourth grader, has built a career exploring how people construct their own realities. His unconventional approach has made him one of Hollywood’s most exciting young directors. (New York Magazine; reply to this email if you can’t get access to the story)
The mastermind behind the Elizabeth Holmes documentary: I was so excited to see Nathan Fielder on the cover of WIRED. And then the disappointment hit as soon as I started reading the interview. It’s clear the interviewer did not at all understand the point of the movie, and the entire Q&A is so superficial and basic that it doesn’t ask any meaningful questions. But I wanted to include this in here in case you guys wanted to see a tiny glimpse into Nathan Fielder’s thinking behind the film. (WIRED)
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