Axelrod’s reputation always precedes him wherever he goes. It’s this sort of popularity, notoriety, and lust for power and money that seems to give him a high like nothing else. In the latest season, this lust to become one amongst the elite doesn’t stop.
This time Bobby Axelrod decides to buy a bank for himself. For someone who owns a hedge fund, owning a bank would be rather dangerous. After all, it gets too close to the law who keep a watchful eye on your every move.
However, Axelrod is known to have a bit of a devil-may-care kind of an attitude in Wall Street and always takes it pretty close to the chest. Besides his arrogance about being the best, I guess it’s the thrill that makes him do it.
But why does Bobby want to own a bank? How does he get it?
Bobby Axelrod wants to own a bank to move a rung above in the high-class elitist society. He baits Chuck Jr. into suing an illegal company that has an in-house bank charter. Post that, Bobby buys the bankrupt company worth pennies in dollars and gets himself a bank charter.
Both Chuck Jr. and Bobby Axelrod are geniuses in their own right, driven by their motives, lusts, and insecurities. One of biggest Axelrod’s problems is that he doesn’t know contentment and satisfaction. Despite being a deca, i.e., in the 0.000000001% with his hedge fund, he still wants to go up higher. This much is clear. However, what are the deeper motives?
Bobby Axelrod’s Potential Motives Behind Buying A Bank
There are two popular theories about why does Bobby Axelrod wants to own a bank. These two aren’t mutually exclusive but might go hand-in-hand with each other.
One theory is that Bobby Axelrod wants to take his hedge funds to a new level, and for that, he’ll need a new source from where he can get his funds. Owning a bank can solve that problem since he’ll have a constant stream of cash inflow from the bank itself.
Furthermore, he will be able to sink the economy into the ground, and since it’s a bank, the government will bail him out. This wouldn’t happen in the case of a hedge fund because with that, only he is liable and hence will get into trouble.
Now, these could be his motives, and it might look easy but is pretty difficult to execute. If a person owns a hedge fund and a bank, the law automatically becomes suspicious of their motives and actions. As a result, they keep an eye on the person and their ventures.
Constantly keeping a check on the books, monitoring every move of his, etc., are merely the beginning of the problem. Moreover, Chuck Jr. will now have new avenues to seek revenge against Bobby.
Either way, I guess once Bobby has put his mind to something, we can’t stop him. In fact, even Chuck couldn’t. Here’s how:
How Does Bobby Axelrod Get The Bank?
Bobby knows Chuck Jr. is after him. He knows Chuck is hungry to take down Bobby and will relentlessly work towards it. So he gives Chuck precisely what he wants.
Bobby baits Chuck into suing an illegal company with an in-house bank charter that Chuck isn’t aware of. After the company is bankrupt, Bobby buys it in pennies. Later Chuck Jr. goes through the company documents to realize what just happened and how he served Bobby Axelrod a bank on a platter.
But all’s not over for neither of them.
Possible Truce Between Chuck Jr. And Bobby Axelrod
Chuck Jr. appoints his father Chuck Sr. as one of the trustees on Bobby’s new bank board. He hopes to make the life of Axelrod a living hell via his ill father. On the other hand, Bobby gets access to a confidential employee file where he sees Chuck Sr.’s need for a kidney and might even know how to get one.
Read More: Does Chuck Rhoades Sr. Die In Billions (Link to be added once article is uploaded)
This could be a point where the two will call it a truce. A kidney in exchange for a bank charter. Bobby might be able to get Chuck Jr. a kidney in return for leaving the bank alone and walking away.
Now, although this is unlikely, it isn’t impossible. In fact, it might just set up the next season with the help of a cliffhanger. I guess we just have to wait and see how that pans out.
About Billions
Billions is an American drama created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. The series is set in financial centres based in America.
The series follows hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), as he accumulates wealth and power in the world of high finance. The series premiered on Showtime on January 17, 2016.
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