Rei dos Stonks

As Episode 1 of "King of Stonks" (2022 release from Germany; 6 episodes of about 47 min each) opens, we are introduced to Felix, the VP of Technology at CableCash, digital payment platform whose biggest client is the provider of porno sites. Felix reports to Magnus Cramer, the CEO with a dubious past. The company is working towards an IPO. What could go wrong?

Couple of comments: this German mini-series is inspired by the true story of Wirecard AG, which unraveled in spectacular fashion a few years ago. "King of Stonks" is immediately reminiscent of "The Dropout", as both startups built a house of cards and then it's just a matter of time to see it all come crashing down. Two thoughts: (1) in a way it's reassuring to see that this happens not just in the US, as it exposes a universal human condition (greed), and (2) I found "The Dropout" to be the slightly better mini-series, resulting from the towering performance of Amanda Seyfried. That said, "House of Stonks" is wildly entertaining in its own right. I can't say that I was familiar with anyone in the cast or in the series production team.

"King of Stonks" premiered on Netflix this week, and all 6 episodes are now streaming. I binged it watching 3 episodes on 2 consecutive evenings. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it all flew by, a sure sign that enjoyed watching this. If you watched "The Dropout" and liked it, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion, as "King of Stonks" revisits familiar territory but now in a European setting,

It's corny and the memes are dorky and old fashioned. It's over the top and all over the place. A lot of kitsch. But I liked it. It's fast and funny. You're never bored. I can't help but compare it to a dark/funny Norvegian equivalent called "Exit" which is a stellar series about 4 wreckless egomaniac yuppies, really great plot and great actors. Kings of stonk does not have this, but in some strange way I just enjoy it a lot. It has a certian warmth that I like and it's unpretentious and fast.

Based losely on the story of the biggest german financial Scandal of the Fintech Wirecard (Just google Wirecard.... ) mixed with Wolf of Walstreet elements. Painfully grotesk and extremely entertaining if you know the Back story.

KOS is an entertaining series with full of actions. Felix, the COO, is the machine behind the success while Magnus is the face of the company. The writer crafted a perfect illustration of how stock value and shareholder pressure influences even short term decisions of the company. Financial terms, shorting, options, longs are explained clearly and to the point.

Being a stock exchange guy, I enjoyed the series as it is not far from realities. Needless to say, sometimes it is exaggerated but this is given.

Sheila played her role excellent, Felix is super likeable as well as Magnus perfect character for the job.

I had a great few hours watching the series. I recommend everyone as well.

Nice touch: in S1E3, Felix looks at a slide deck on his laptop. The scene starts at 00:28, we can see two slides, and the scene is cut 2 seconds later. The funny thing here is that the slides are based on the PowerPoint Slide Master of the company Wirecard (WCD). It cannot be ruled out that the show used original Wirecard-slides. Especially, the 40% CAGR, the world domination map looks all typically Wirecard from the financial year 2016/17. It stands to reason, that someone familiar with the subject and with mischievous ulterior motive used that old template or even a slide deck from that company.