Bernard Madoff: photo and biography of the great rascal

November 14, 2139, the jail term of the famous American businessman convicted in a fraud will come to an end. Even in the recent past, he was considered one of the most successful businessmen not only in the United States, but throughout the world, he was chairman of the board of directors of NASDAQ (the stock exchange).

About him, for sure, everyone who has somehow been interested in economics and finances has heard. Bernard Madoff? Yes, yes, it was he. A fraudster of this magnitude the world has never met. This is what you need to have a brain to come up with such a great scam ?! More details on what the financial pyramid of Bernard Madoff was, who exposed him, and also about many other things, read in our article.

History of the case

In early summer of 2009, an American "entrepreneur", or rather, a genius swindler who was believed by more than 3 million people around the world, was sentenced to 150 years in prison for creating the largest in the history of America and not only a financial pyramid - a bubble, Which eventually burst. The damage to people who believed him is estimated at more than 64 billion US dollars. By the time of the verdict, Bernard Madoff has turned 71 years old. Of course, it's ridiculous to sentence a man of old age to 150 years in prison, but this is American justice. By the way, there is information that he is an oncologist. Naturally, if the miracle does not happen, the fraudster entrepreneur will never see freedom again. However, he does not despair. Even being in prison, managed to crank out another scam, though not as large as his "ingenious" pyramid: he bought all the cocoa that was sold at the local buffet, and resold it at the highest possible price. Such is he, and enterprise is the main feature of his character.

Biography

He was born in 1938 in the family of Jewish immigrants who came to America. Father Bernie (since he was called from childhood), Ralph Madoff was a plumber, but he had a great passion for money and worked part-time on one of the stock exchanges. Mom of the future entrepreneur did not do anything special, but led the economy and raised children, however, like most Jewish wives living in the New World. A few months before the birth of his son, his father became more seriously engaged in financial activities. He wanted at all costs to get out of poverty. In the same year, the acute phase of the Great Depression began in the country, and he was left without work. So the "games" on the exchange were his only income, although they did not bring him any serious profits. But Ralph did not despair and founded his own business selling sports goods. However, this case was not successful either: by the time his son went to school, the company was ruined. Unlike Madoff senior, the younger in the future became a more successful businessman, but more about that later.

Childhood

At school, little Bernie was not particularly distinguished among the other students. His family lived in cramped conditions, but he was not very interested in the financial problems of his parents. As a teenager, being a wonderful swimmer, a member of the school team in this sport, she decided to work as a lifeguard on the beach to have her own money. There he was arranged by his swimming coach. Even then, Bernard Madoff, whose scam in the future shocked the whole world, did not like wasting money and was saving it for future investments.

Adulthood

After school, he entered college and began studying for a political scientist. Even during his studies, Bernie met a beautiful Jewish girl from a fairly wealthy family Ruth Alpern. They got engaged in 1959, then played a wedding and began to live together, until 2009 (as long as 50 years!), When the great swindler was arrested. In the same year, after receiving a bachelor's degree, he continued his studies at the Brooklyn School of Jurisprudence. But here he did not stay long. A year after that, I decided to give up my studies and set out on a free voyage.

First business

During his work as a rescuer, he managed to save 5 thousand dollars. However, this was not enough to start a business of its own. He borrowed $ 50,000 from his wife's relatives and founded his first investment company, naming it Bernard L. Madoff ("Bernard Madoff L"). His father-in-law Sol Alpern, who was a financial consultant, not only supported his son-in-law with money, but also brought his first clients to him. Encouraging his former companions and acquaintances of the son-in-law's talent in matters of financial investments, he helped him in many ways. They bypassed the exchange and invested in the "Pink Sheets" outside of it. It brought in revenue, but Madoff did not have the opportunity to compete.

Modern approach to business management

Nevertheless, Bernie found a way out and by 1980, Investment Securities LLC had become one of the most (if not the most) large of the traders in New York. 5% of all transactions made on the stock exchange of New York, were carried out by this company. Such a leap became possible due to computerization. The company Bernard Madoff was one of the first to use the electronic format of trading. At that time, their competitors still continued to send their employees to the stock exchange. After modern technology passed all tests, they became the foundation for the NASDAQ fund - the Bernard Madoff pyramid.

The beginning of the scam

Some moment came when people entrusted their brilliant finances with a total sum of 50 billion dollars to the brilliant swindler. And then he decided to crank the biggest fraud in the history of the country. By the way, later he confessed that he did not consider himself guilty, since he did not persuade or deceive anyone. People themselves "tossed billions" into his face in the hope of increasing their incomes. After all, they were not all crazy and were not born today, they had to understand that something was wrong here. But for some reason everyone liked to be deceived and did not go into the essence. It seemed to all that Madoff possesses some special knowledge, thanks to which he can generate such great profits. Sometimes there were customers who still began to suspect something was wrong, and then Bernard Madoff, a fraudster and clever swindler, did not hesitate to offer them their money. But they could not resist the temptation to earn millions, as well as the magnetism of the great "entrepreneur," and left their money with him. Bernard Madoff in an interview with New York tells how much it was difficult for him to keep this secret with him. He confessed that this was a real nightmare. He had a premonition of trouble, but he could not share this with anyone: neither with his wife, with whom they lived for 50 years, nor with their sons ... And even his own brother-his best friend-he did not tell anything.

Bernard Madoff: a scam that surprised the whole world

National Market (NNM)) и его мошенничестве. For sure, many heard about the founder of the NASDAQ National Market (NNM) and his fraud. Judging by the way he managed to crank out his scam, he can be called a stock market guru. It is incomprehensible to the mind how he could deceive investors from all over the world. The amount by which he managed to "untwist" them, was more than 60 billion US dollars. This money disappeared unclear where. Such a scam the world has not seen, and Bernard Madoff, whose photo you see in the article, was recognized by the public as the most ingenious swindler in the history of the United States. To commit this scam, he used the most common pyramid of Ponzi. He disguised it as a hedge fund. This was a very simple, but at the same time complex scheme. Since he was known since 1960 as a successful stock exchange businessman, people trusted him with their money, believing that his brain is able to comprehend what others can not.

Why did people believe him?

What factors made the scam possible? First of all:

1. Impeccable reputation of a businessman and a wide range of his acquaintances. Back in those days when for many computer technologies seemed to be incomprehensible, he used them for trading, as well as analysis. The fact that he began to apply them in his work raised his authority. And very many of his colleagues considered him the owner of outstanding abilities and extraordinary thinking. So Bernard Madoff's pyramid was not entirely understood by many investors, but they sincerely believed that the entrepreneur certainly knows what he is doing. After all, he has such a reputation!

2. Secrecy also had a special significance for the prosperity of Madoff's scam. He knew how to skillfully mask his transactions, and published an investment strategy in general terms. He urged his investors not to talk about what the fund is doing, allegedly for their own good. That's why for the time being nobody has noticed the weakness of Bernie's investment strategy. Some experts felt that something was wrong here, but they could not find any evidence.

3. Madoff was considered a great authority in the Jewish diaspora. It was in this environment that he found new partners and investors for himself. Among them were billionaires, large businessmen who were not averse to multiplying their funds, presidents of venture funds, chairmen of the board of directors of the world's largest world banks. Jewish communities prefer to invest in projects of their members, and not representatives of other nationalities.

4. The amount of dividends was small - an average of 12% per annum, with interest payments never having any problems.

Disclosure

The first person who began to suspect Madoff of fraud and noticed something was wrong in his activity was Gary Markopoulos, a financial analyst. His calculations, sent to the Commission on Exchange and Securities, were ignored. Moreover, he did it more than once, but as many as four times - in 2000, 2001, 2005 and in 2007. They never listened to him. He was the first to notice: either the calculations are incorrect, or the activity of the fund is invalid. Later, after Madoff was exposed, he published a book about his useless attempts to reach the members of the commission. It was called "No One Would Listen".

In 2000 Bernie was offered to sell his fund for a billion dollars. However, he refused. Everyone who knew about this was shocked and could not understand the reasons for the refusal. However, he explained to them that the campaign is doing better than ever, and he wants to take it to another level. In fact, Bernard Madoff, whose biography arouses the genuine interest of the younger generation, was afraid that inspections would be carried out before the act of sale, and he could not allow this. After all, then the deception would be revealed. Markopoulos was also surprised, so he started his calculations and discovered what was hidden from others. In two years, the amount of interest that Bernie had to pay to the investors grew to an incredible size, and then the grand swindler began to panic. Of course, he tried to find more and more new investors, but their investments could not cover the necessary amounts. And yet he managed to hold out until 2008. His stock market collapsed. The moment of culmination has come, and Bernie's sons noticed that something is amiss with their father. When they found out about what their father had done, they handed him over to the authorities. There was no other way out. After all, their deceived customers were breaking in their doors and demanding their money. As a result, it became known that for the last 13 years, that is since 1997, Madoff Sr. did not engage in any investment at all.

Court

The testimony of the genius swindler was taken in the spring of 2009. He admitted that he had been engaged in money laundering for many years. After 3 months, the court was held, and the former entrepreneur was sentenced to 150 years' imprisonment. A year later, his son was found hanged in his New York home. Learning about this, my father fell into a serious depression. Another son of Madoff, Andrew, was stronger. He continued to own his own energy company. In an interview with one of the major print media, Madoff confessed that he was most concerned about the harm that his family suffered. But they treat him very well in prison, because whatever one may say, he is a thief, although not a pickpocket or a burglar. And to such in prison - a respectful attitude. And Madoff admitted that most of all his consolation is that his investors were able to return half of their money, that is, 50 cents for one dollar. He consoled himself with the fact that, without his fund, these people would still lose their money, trusting other funds. Of course, for many, his confessions sounded very cynical, and no one could understand whether he really repents or not. But the fact that his son could not stand the accusations and mistrust on the part of society and did away with life, he, of course, very much repented.

Bernard Madoff: movies about the great scam

In the past few years, several paintings, both documentary and artistic, have appeared, which tell the story of the life and activities of the biggest financial swindler in the history of mankind. So in 2006 the trailer "Madoff" was shot. However, he did not really like the viewer. Another film about Bernard Madoff - "Liar, great and terrible", the main roles in which the unsurpassed Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer play, was more successful. The filmmakers, however, did not limit themselves to these two. Also, a picture was taken of the financial analyst Gary Makropulos. It was called "Pursuing Madoff" and was based on real events, and in its presentation there is this line: "Unfortunately, the film was created on the basis of real events." Opinions about this film were ambiguous, someone liked it, and someone left indifferent. There are several more documentary films that tell of the great rascal. One of them is called "Avener of the Century". By the way, after the Christmas holidays, in January 2017 all the newspapers again remembered the name of the super-master. And immediately everyone knew where Bernard Madoff was sitting in which prison. After all, he, as already mentioned above, decided to show his entrepreneurial talent and, buying up the whole lot of cocoa powder, began to resell it to prisoners with a profit for themselves. This is his essence. In a word, only the grave will fix the humpback ...