Billions (TV series)

Billions is an American drama television series created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. The series premiered on January 17, 2016, on Showtime and its seventh and final season premiered on August 13, 2023. Set primarily in New York and Connecticut, the series depicts hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) as he accumulates wealth and power in the world of high finance. Axelrod's aggressive tactics frequently garner the attention of United States Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti). Rhoades is based on Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan from 2009 to 2017, and the series was inspired by real-life federal prosecutions of financial crime. Bharara's 2013 prosecution of hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen of S.A.C. Capital Advisors loosely influenced the first season, while Salomon Brothers' 1991 manipulation of U.S. Treasury bonds inspired the second. Series subplots feature the psychiatrist turned performance coach Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff), market analyst Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon), and Axelrod's right-hand man Mike "Wags" Wagner (David Costabile). As the first American TV series to have a non-binary character (Taylor Mason), it has been nominated multiple times for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series for its representation of the LGBTQ community. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Chuck Roades (Giamatti) goes after hedge fund manager and popular philanthropist Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Lewis). A collision course, with each using all of their considerable smarts and influence to outmaneuver the other, looms. Paul Giamatti as Charles "Chuck" Rhoades, Jr.: U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who later attempts a run for governor of New York and is elected Attorney General of New York. Rhoades is ruthless and has a particular distaste for wealthy criminals who try to buy their way out of justice. Despite his significant power as U.S.