Friday's Fast Five: Week of 9.20

How Fox Threw a Tom Brady Hail Mary and Won (The Ringer): It began with a hopeful text message and a clandestine hotel room meeting. This is the story of how Fox consulted its playbook and won the biggest prize in the Great Announcer Swap.

Harvard Business School grad’s Ponzi scheme swindled alums out of $2.9 million (CNBC): A Harvard Business School graduate tricked his fellow alumni and associates into investing at least $2.9 million in a Ponzi scheme he ran, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday. James’ office said it had secured a court order blocking the grad, Vladimir Artamonov, “from harming investors through his fraudulent scheme,” which allegedly projected returns of 500% to 1,000% by claiming to learn which investments Berkshire Hathaway planned to make.

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani becomes first player to join 50-50 club (CNN): Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani etched his name in Major League Baseball history on Thursday, becoming the inaugural member of the 50-50 club against the Miami Marlins. A 50-50 season consists of 50+ home runs and 50+ stolen bases in a single season.

He Was an Online Drug Lord. Now He’s a Crypto Entrepreneur. (The New York Times): At a cryptocurrency convention in Austin in May, Blake Emerson Benthall hustled for investor money alongside scores of other entrepreneurs. But none of them, it is safe to say, could pitch their experience as the leader of a multimillion-dollar criminal drug enterprise.

U.S. vs. China: An Underwater Fight for Fiber-Optic Power (The Wall Street Journal - Video): Underwater fiber-optic cables, carrying transactions worth trillions of dollars a day, are central to the U.S.-China tech war. WSJ explains the battle for influence beneath the waves.