Succession might have a case but no TV show touches on the topic of finance better than Showtime's Billions. The show revolves the billionaire hedge-fund manager Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and his love-hate relationship with US attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) who is trying to take him down for financial malpractice.
Billions is partially based on the real-life battle between former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara and billionaire Steve Cohen who was once found guilty of insider trading. In the show, Axe makes plenty of chess moves, but he occasionally messes up in major ways. Here are the times he was smart and the times that he wasn't.
Genius: Teaming Up With Chuck Rhoades
From the first season, Axe and Chuck were like Tom and Jerry, Sylvester and Tweetie of Road Runner and Coyote. Chuck was doing everything he could to get Bobby behind bars. However, Bobby managed to get Chuck off his back after the two found mutual interests.
In season four, the two agreed to work together to take down enemies that they shared, including Bobby's former star employee Taylor Mason, billionaire Grigor Andolov, Bryan Connerty and Waylon “Jock” Jeffcoat. Bobby also agreed to help Chuck in his quest to be New York Governor.
Messed Up: Putting Taylor In Charge Of Axe Capital
We can't really fault Axe for this mistake in season three. This was also the same season where Mark Cuban made a cameo appearance. In all fairness, Taylor Mason (who identifies as non-binary) was an extraordinary employee. Sadly, they had their own agenda. When Bobby is charged with market manipulation and insider trading, he is left with no option but to step away from his company. Since a man like him can't stay away from the business, he puts Taylor in charge,
All along, Taylor has been outstanding. They're always the one coming up with ways to get out of quagmires. They're also great at coming up with fresh ideas. However, the ambitious Taylor is actually feeling undervalued, so they end up starting their own company and taking some of Bobby's employees with them.
Genius: Giving And Receiving
In the first season, Axe wants to have a good image in the media, so, what does he do? He makes a $100 million donation offer to a museum’s director. But there's a condition: he wants the building to be named after him. The director tries to defend the current name, but Axe brushes him off.
When the director asks Axe why the name is important to him, he switches it up and says, "here’s why it’s important to you: It’s the only way you’re getting even a dollar out of me." Apparently, Axe has also done some digging and realized that the original owners are having financial troubles. So, the director is left with no choice but to accept.
Messed Up: Trying To Sabotage Ice Juice
In season two, Axe finds a way to exert the perfect against Chuck... or so he thinks. Axe learns that Chuck has invested all his money in his dad’s beverage brand called Ice Juice. So, Axe goes evil and makes plans for the beverage to be poisoned so that the company's stock falls.
However, this has been Chuck's plan all along. He intended to bait Chuck and make him do something illegal. By Axe poisoning the beverage and affecting the stock, Chuck is suddenly put in a convenient position to arrest and charge Axe for market manipulation. Consequently, Axe ends up in jail.
Genius: Financing The Lawsuits Of Chuck's Mini-Enemies
In the second season, Axe's reputation had been messed up thanks to Chuck's obsession with taking him down, and the frustration was written all over his face whenever he would appear on the screen. No one would have been surprised if he went as far as to hire a hitman.
But Axe decides to do things the legal way. Using his team of lawyers, he finds a whopping 127 people who have grievances against Chuck and would like to see him punished. Axe agrees to finance all of their lawsuits—because, why not?
Messed Up: Being So Lenient On Wags
Axe’s COO and right-hand man Mike “Wags” Wagner has always proven to be loyal. However, his recklessness has become an inconvenience to Axe lately. In season four, he offends an emissary of the fictional country of Qadir. He is then held in the Qadir embassy until Axe shows up to argue for his release.
However, the diplomats end up arm-twisting Axe for a deal as a condition for releasing Wags. Worse still, the diplomats are working with Grigor. It's all too much for Axe. This incident pushes him further back in his war with Taylor, but he is still doesn't properly reprimand Wags.
Genius: Keeping Wendy In The Company
Chuck's ever-tough and super-intelligent wife Wendy also happens to be the in-house psychiatrist at Axe Capital. Working with the wife of your enemy should be difficult, right? Axe could have easily decided to dismiss her, and it wouldn't have appeared evil. Her husband is trying to put him in jail, after all.
However, Axe keeps her in the company and at times, this works in slowing down Chuck. As hard as he is going after Axe, he doesn't want his wife to lose his job. Of course, it also doesn't help that Wendy likes working there and their marriage isn't so good. He could ask her to quit the company, but she wouldn't listen.
Messed Up: Agreeing To Give Taylor A $25 Million Bonus
After taking good care of the company during Axe's absence, Taylor demanded a $50 million bonus. Quite an ambitious human being. However, Axe said no because he had never given this kind of bonus to anyone before. Giving out the bonus would also mean taking out money from his own pocket.
He had legit reasons for denying Taylor their request. However, he softened up later on and proposed a $25 million bonus. This was a weak move on his part because he looked like he was begging: "I won't give you $50 million, but please just take $25 million, okay?" For an ambitious person like Taylor, this was never going to work. So they left.
Genius: Refusing Grigor's Offer To Kill Taylor
In the third season of Billions, Grigor, the ruthless Russian oligarch, tells Axe that he is ready to kill Taylor for the betrayal. Even though this looks like it might solve Axe's problems, he refuses. Even though Taylor is a real threat, Axe can't just order a hit. He's already had so much trouble with the law.
A murder, if discovered, would be the last nail on the coffin for him. And, if he ever let Grigor do it, the Russian oligarch would use it to blackmail him forever. So, Axe refuses and an angry Grigor goes on to fund Taylor's company.
Messed Up: Wiring $5 Million To Wendy
Season one saw Axe making plenty of rookie mistakes. On one occasion, Wendy records Chuck during an argument. Chuck admits to using unfair means to get evidence. She then takes the recording to Axe, who had previously mistreated her. He apologizes and increases her bonus from $2 million to $5 million.
He even goes on to wire the money immediately. Not to mention that he had already bought her a Maserati. Everything good. Right? Hell no! Immediately after receiving the money, Wendy says she is quitting. Axe even gets off easy here. What if Wendy was teaming up with Chuck to play him once again? He never thought it through.