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).
Plot U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) receives a tip that hedge fund magnate Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis) has traded on insider information. Axelrod's inner circle consists of Rhoades' wife, performance coach Wendy (Maggie Siff), and Michael "Wags" Wagner (David Costabile). Chuck begins an investigation into the firm and arrests one of Axelrod's top confidantes, Dollar Bill (Kelly AuCoin). Wendy attempts to negotiate an armistice between Chuck and Axelrod via a settlement; though both parties agree to the terms, Chuck sabotages the deal at the last moment to spite Axelrod. In an attempt to appease Wendy, Chuck recuses himself from the investigation and gives the case to his point man Bryan Connerty (Toby Leonard Moore) – though Chuck insists on being informed as to the investigation's progress. Connerty flips one of Axelrod's traders Donnie Caan (David Cromer), though it is later revealed that Donnie had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and Axelrod used him to feed the FBI information he wouldn't live to testify for. In the wake of this failure, the Attorney General requests that the investigation into Axelrod end. Wendy leaves Chuck after he breaches her session notes for proof of Axelrod's illegalities; she also leaves Axe Capital, unable to work at a firm that engages in such practices.
An investigation, to be led by official misconduct investigator Oliver Dake (Christopher Denham), is opened into Chuck's office. Axelrod senses his vulnerability and orchestrates a class action lawsuit against Chuck. With the Attorney General prepared to fire him, Chuck announces an investigation into Spartan Ives CEO Lawrence Boyd (Eric Bogosian) in a last ditch effort to save his position; the AG postpones Chuck's termination as it would appear that the administration would be meddling on Boyd's behalf. Meanwhile, for the sake of her family, Wendy agrees to return to Axe Capital if Axelrod drops the lawsuits against Chuck. Axelrod agrees and Wendy returns to the firm; she also reunites with her husband while Axelrod's own marriage crumbles. In another loss for Axelrod, Chuck arrests Boyd and gets him to agree to a hefty settlement, resulting in Chuck's elevated status and the end of the investigation into his office. Meanwhile, Chuck's personal attorney and Chuck Rhoades Sr. (Jeffrey DeMunn) unite for a promising business venture, a beverage company titled Ice Juice. With the IPO projected to soar, Axelrod is informed of the venture's proximity to Chuck and attempts to sabotage it by inducing minor poisoning through compromised associates. Wendy attempts to alert Chuck to this but, frustrated by his disbelief, buys a short on the IPO herself. The Ice Juice IPO crashes, though this is revealed to have been Chuck's ultimate plan: he baited Axelrod to sabotage the venture and leveraged Dake (the newly appointed Eastern District Attorney) to investigate it; Axelrod is subsequently arrested and indicted.
The newly appointed Attorney General Jock Jeffcoat (Clancy Brown) takes office and spares Chuck in the midst of a purge in the legal branches. Axelrod relinquishes his ability to trade until his legal woes are resolved. Connerty is sent to Eastern to oversee the prosecution against Axelrod; however, Connerty soon becomes aware of Chuck's prosecutorial misconduct. Chuck and Axelrod both become aware of a piece of evidence that could incriminate Axe: a slide of the toxicant Axe used to poison his associates. The slide, in the possession of a doctor (Seth Barrish) who Axelrod consulted while planning the Ice Juice sabotage, is given to Chuck so Dr. Gilbert wouldn't have to testify. Meanwhile, Connerty becomes aware of Wendy's Ice Juice short and believes this was part of a larger conspiracy. With Wendy facing prison time, Chuck and Axelrod agree to save her by framing Dr. Gilbert and planting the slide in his residence. Connerty dismisses the indictment against Axelrod and Dake is fired as District Attorney. Connerty returns to SDNY but is publicly humiliated and fired by Chuck. Meanwhile, Axelrod returns to Axe Capital with the goal of a massive cap raise; he faces insurrection from trader Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon), who had become a close protege of Axelrod's prior to his trial. Taylor opens their own shop and steals clients acquired during the cap raise. AG Jeffcoat attempts to assert the administration's conservative agenda into the cases Chuck works at SDNY. Chuck attempts to gain leverage over the AG by investigating Jeffcoat's brother; this backfires when Jeffcoat becomes aware and fires him. In the aftermath of their respective betrayals, Chuck and Axe meet to discuss their schemes moving forward.
Connerty is appointed to be Chuck's successor as SDNY District Attorney. With Axelrod's help, Chuck plots a political comeback, seeking the position of New York Attorney General. With a political enemy threatening to expose his BDSM private life, Chuck confesses via press conference that he is a masochist and he nonetheless trusts the voters; his popularity soars and he is elected NYAG, though Wendy is left humiliated. Axelrod attempts to sabotage Taylor's shop by colluding with banks to deny Taylor leverage, and with the help of Wendy, undermines a business venture spearheaded by Taylor's father (Kevin Pollak). With Connerty and Jeffcoat still a threat to his power, Chuck and his father embark on a phony land deal in a successful effort to bait Connerty into crossing legal boundaries to sabotage the Rhoades'; Connerty and Jeffcoat are both arrested for their involvement in the scheme. Wendy is investigated for crossing ethical boundaries by exploiting Taylor's personal information regarding their father. Axelrod is ultimately able to destroy Taylor's shop, though he acquires Taylor and their personnel back into Axe Capital; he also leverages the medical board to dismiss the charges against Wendy. After learning that Chuck took no action to protect her, Wendy divorces him; Chuck puts Axelrod back in his crosshairs for the dissolution of his marriage.
Axe crosses the $10 billion mark and wants to go into banking, citing the limits of hedge funds; he also begins a feud with billionaire Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) after being snubbed for a magazine cover. Chuck attempts to sabotage Axe's attempt to acquire a bank charter, though this effort is ultimately unsuccessful. As their war of words escalates, Axe damages Prince's reputation by unearthing allegations that Prince exploited his deceased co-founder; in retaliation, Prince agrees to work with Chuck to bring down. Meanwhile, Wendy and Axe confront their feelings for each other, ultimately admitting they want to be together. Prince and Chuck stage a meeting to discuss marijuana legalization, with Axelrod being informed that the federal government is about to legalize the substance. Under the belief he's stealing a deal Prince is about to make, Axelrod is baited into signing a deal with a marijuana company operating a criminal enterprise. After signing the deal, the CEO (Janeane Garofalo) is arrested and Axe Bank is to be held criminally liable; an arrest for Axelrod appears imminent. Axe informs Wendy that he plans on going on the run, after selling Axe Capital and Axe Bank to Prince for $2 billion. Chuck is left humiliated when Axe doesn't appear at the scheduled place for his surrender; he thus sets his sights on Prince for betraying him while Axelrod arrives in Switzerland a free man.
Axe Capital is revamped into Mike Prince Capital, with Prince aiming to run a more ethical shop than Axe did. Prince also spearheads an effort to bring the 2028 Summer Olympics to New York City; though this effort is briefly successful, it is sabotaged by Chuck when the NYAG office launches an investigation into Prince's committee bribing the International Olympic Committee. Upset with the expensive and dispiriting loss, Prince retaliates by convincing the governor (Matt Servitto) to initiate proceedings to remove Chuck as the state's Attorney General; these proceedings are ultimately successful and Chuck is removed as NYAG. The staff at Mike Prince Capital, namely Wendy, become suspicious of Prince's motives and discover that he is planning on running for president. With his behavior becoming increasingly egomaniacal, Wendy becomes worried about what Prince would do if successfully elected.
Prince announces his campaign as an independent candidate for president. Meanwhile, Chuck's image is rehabilitated as a "man of the people" taking on the billionaires and, after wooing Jeffcoat in exchange for an endorsement, is reinstated to his original position at SDNY. Wendy, Taylor, and Wags create an alliance to take down Prince, although they are unsuccessful in lobbying Axelrod to their effort. Prince's campaign soars after a televised address and after receiving a highly coveted endorsement at a private gentleman's club called The Owl. Prince becomes aware of the mutiny within the company and prepares a corporate espionage suit against Wendy, Wags and Taylor. Incensed by the threat to his friends, Axe returns to the United States to plot Prince's downfall. With Prince temporarily off the grid due to a meeting with the president, Chuck announces an investigation into several natural gas companies that Prince's firm has funnelled all of their holdings into; this triggers a crisis within those companies and Prince's wealth is effectively erased. With his presidential hopes dashed, Prince furiously trashes Wendy's office and prepares to return to Indiana with a measly $100 million. Axe reacquires his office space and designates it the new headquarters of Axe Global; he requests that Wendy stay as performance coach but she insists on leaving to head a telehealth firm, though she insists they will stay connected. The series ends with Wendy and Chuck enjoying a family dinner and Axe directing his traders to "make some fucking money".
Cast and characters Actor Character Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Paul Giamatti Charles "Chuck" Rhoades, Jr. colspan="7" Damian Lewis Robert "Bobby" Axelrod colspan="5" colspan="7" Maggie Siff Wendy Rhoades colspan="7" Malin Åkerman Lara Axelrod colspan="3" colspan="3" Toby Leonard Moore Bryan Connerty colspan="4" David Costabile Mike "Wags" Wagner colspan="7" Condola Rashad Kate Sacker colspan="7" Asia Kate Dillon Taylor Amber Mason colspan="7" Jeffrey DeMunn Charles Rhoades, Sr. colspan="2" colspan="7" Kelly AuCoin "Dollar" Bill Stearn colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="7" Corey Stoll Michael Thomas Aquinas Prince colspan="4" colspan="2" Daniel Breaker Scooter Dunbar colspan="4" colspan="2" Sakina Jaffrey Daevisha "Dave" Mahar colspan="5" colspan="2" Toney Goins Phillip Charyn colspan="5"
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