House Of Cards Beau Willimon, showrunner and creator of Westward, has teamed up to produce with Jordan Tappis (Westward producing partner). Crazy Rich Asians’ co-financier SK Global to develop a television series based on Tom Wright and Bradley Hope’s novel Billion Dollar Whale – The Man Who Fooled Wall Street Hollywood and the World. Tony Award-winning M. ButterflyDavid Henry Hwang, a playwright, is attached to the project as executive producer and adaptation.
SK Global, Westward will finance all stages and provide oversight.
Written by an award-winning writer Wall Street JournalWright and Hope reporters Billon Dollar Whale gives an inside account of Malaysia’s shocking 1MDB money-laundering scandal, exposing the secret nexus of elite wealth, banking, Hollywood, and politics. The book centers on the heist’s alleged mastermind, international fugitive Jho Low, and his adventures in Hollywood (financing Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street), and Wall Street (making Goldman Sachs millions while defrauding investors). Now under investigation by authorities in Malaysia, Singapore, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the U.S. Department of Justice, the theft—estimated at $5 billion—ranks among the biggest cases of fraud in history.
Published by Hachette Books in 2018, Billion Dollar WhaleThe book became an instant New York Times bestseller, and it was also named the Financial Times 2018 Book of the Year. It has been sold over half a million copies worldwide, with more than one hundred thousand copies in Asia, where it is still a bestseller. Wright and Hope’s reporting on the subject contributed to prosecutions around the world including in the largest ever bribery case against a major bank. Their investigation played a crucial role in Malaysian elections. They overturned the long-standing dominance of the ruling party, and brought about criminal charges against the former prime Minister.
SK Global’s John Penotti, Charlie Corwin and Marcy Ross will serve as executive producers alongside Willimon and Tappis. Michelle Yeoh, actor-producer will also be producing the series.
“It’s hard to overstate the cultural impact of this story in Asia and around the world,”Penotti and Corwin agreed. “It’s both a tale of financial greed and deceit, and a darkly comedic social satire. We are excited to build on this talented team as we move forward.”
“At Westward we are drawn to stories that reflect the complexity of the times we live in, centering on enigmatic and surprising characters. We’re also drawn to developing innovative ways to produce work in a quickly shifting entertainment landscape. With David Henry Hwang at the helm, and SK Global at our side, this project allows us to do both. We we’re thrilled to be able to bring this incredible story to life for a global audience,”Tappis and Willimon agreed.
SK Global is currently filming Netflix’s Thai Cave RescueLimited series in Thailand with Jon M. Chu & Nattawut “Baz”Poonpiriya also co-produces and co-directs. The company is also actively developingThe Baccarat MachineAwkwafina to star in adaptation Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan’s latest bestseller Sex and VanityIn partnership with Sony Pictures