‘Kaleidoscope’: The True Story of the $70 Billion Mystery That Inspired the Netflix Heist Series

Netflix subscribers everywhere have kicked off the new year by watching Kaleidoscope, a unique limited series that tells the story of a $7 billion heist across eight episodes that can be viewed in any order. The show’s outrageous plot might seem like fictional fun, but here’s a surprising fact: It’s all true. Well… sort of. Kaleidoscope is loosely based on a true story involving a possible heist after Hurricane Sandy. Here’s what happened.

What is ‘Kaleidoscope’ on Netflix?

Kaleidoscope stars Giancarlo Esposito as Leo Pap, a former thief who gathers a group of criminals to plan a seemingly impossible heist: stealing $7 billion in bearer bonds from a highly-secure underground vault during a major storm. The story spans 25 years and takes a close look at the thieves, the security personnel, and the FBI agents investigating the crime. Other stars of the series include Tati Gabrielle, Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, Peter Mark Kendall, Rosaline Elbay, Jai Courtney, Niousha Noor, Jordan Mendoza, Soojeong Son, and Hemky Madera.

The true story behind ‘Kaleidoscope’ happened during Hurricane Sandy

In the true story behind Kaleidoscope, a much larger loot was at stake: $70 billion. The thing is, though, we don’t really know what happened to that $70 billion.

During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, major flooding on Wall Street caused damage inside an underground vault at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp (DTCC). According to The New York Post, the vault reportedly contained billions of dollars in bearer bonds. It was all covered in water, mud, waste, and even gasoline. However, the DTCC, which worked with banks like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, and more, declined to share any details on the damage and what it was all worth.

“I can’t go into details. We do not provide values for security reasons,” said DTCC spokesperson Judy Inosanto.

Likewise, most of the banks kept quiet. Goldman Sachs, however, claimed that “the market value of bearer bonds potentially impacted is less than $10,000,” per The Post. That was one hour after Goldman Sachs claimed it was “less than $1 million.”

The DTCC’s annual report in 2013 noted that 99% of the flooded documents had been recovered and restored. Of course, the secrecy surrounding the incident led to conspiracy theories. Some people thought money actually went missing in a heist during the hurricane, which is what inspired Kaleidoscope.

“To my mind, I was like, ‘Well, that’s a perfect coverup for a heist!'” creator Eric Garcia told Tudum.

Fans can watch the events of ‘Kaleidoscope’ unfold in any order

For many fans of Kaleidoscope, the heist itself isn’t the most intriguing part of the series. Instead, it’s the format. The episodes, which are all named after colors, do not have a specific order. Netflix provides a randomized order for each viewer, with the exception of “White,” which always appears last. However, fans are welcome to watch the episodes in any order they choose — chronological, rainbow, or completely random.

Kaleidoscope is now streaming on Netflix.