Product Description
An intriguing look at Bernie Madoff the man, and his scam
Madoff with the Money is a deeply disturbing portrait of Bernie Madoff based on dozens of exclusive, news-making interviews. From the values Madoff was taught growing up in the working class town of Laurelton, Queens to his high-life on Wall Street and the super-rich enclaves of Palm Beach and the French Riviera, bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer follows the disgraced money manager's trail as he works his way up the social and economic ladder, and eventually scams his trusting clients in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Through Oppenheimer's in-depth reporting, you'll discover new revelations in this startling case, and become familiar with the trusting victims-ranging from non-profit Jewish charities to the likes of seemingly sophisticated individuals such as actress Jane Fonda who would "like to shake Madoff until his teeth fall out," the scion of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire who lost a bundle and was forced to rent out rooms in his house, and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg. There's even Madoff's own sister-in-law and talk show host Larry King, who apparently didn't ask the right questions when he invested. All lost their much-needed life savings, while others saw fortunes small and large evaporate in the greedy financial operations of one of history's all-time charlatans.
Madoff With the Money
- Delves into the details of the illusive man that lost investors billions
- Weaves stories of Madoff's past with those of the present in an engaging and accessible style
- Explores how the financial scam that Madoff ran cost individuals and institutions billions of dollars
- Other titles by Oppenheimer: Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel, and Just Desserts: Martha Stewart the Unauthorized Biography
While there may be other books on the Bernie Madoff debacle, none digs as deep or goes as far to uncover the truth behind the man, and his incredible scam.
Madoff With the Money Cast of Characters
• Bernard Lawrence (Bernie) Madoff The poor boy from middle-class Queens who went from scamming his high school English class with a phony oral book report to robbing thousands out of billions – billing himself as a financial messiah – in the biggest, most mind-boggling Ponzi scheme in history. At 71, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. But was he the mastermind as he claimed?
• Ralph Z. Madoff
The Patriarch of the Madoff clan. A real-life Ralph Kramden who was always looking for a big score, he was an aggressive con-man of sorts in his own right. Even his middle initial “Z” was fabricated. A proclaimed plumber who never was known to wield a wrench, he dabbled in stocks, but declared that Wall Street was “run by crooks and sons of bitches.”
• Sylvia Madoff
The Madoff matriarch, a tough cookie, who was caught by the SEC running a questionable stock broker operation out of the family’s modest home -- probably fronting for Ralph who had financial troubles. Tight with money, she refused to buy Bernie the popular sneaker of the era, Keds, which made the Madoff scion all the more determined to strike it rich later in life – at any cost.
• Peter Madoff
Bernie’s brother, and the youngest, brightest and best educated of the Madoff brood. He became second in command of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, and was dominated by Bernie who treated him like an office boy. When he announced to the staff that Bernie had been arrested -- claiming he didn’t know why -- a veteran employee who was there says, “In his next life he could win an Oscar.”
• Sondra (Sonnie) Madoff Wiener
The slender, attractive eldest of the three Madoff siblings, she was introduced by Bernie to Marvin Wiener. The two were married and he became a dentist. The Wieners, trusting Bernie as a blood relative and the self-proclaimed “most powerful man on Wall Street,” invested with him over the years and lost millions in his swindle, as did their son, Charles, who worked for Bernie as head of administration.
• Ruth Alpern Madoff
Ruth, who grew up in Laurelton, Queens, with Bernie became his steady at Far Rockaway High School. She had attributes that intrigued Bernie: She had a “shiksa” look, but was Jewish; she was social and outgoing; she had a shrewd accountant father, and she was a whiz at one particular subject – math -- all the right stuff for a future Master of the Universe in the gilded canyons of Wall Street. Married in 1959, Bernie would later cheat on her like he cheated his clients.
• Saul Alpern
Ruth’s father, the creative accountant, who was one of her groom’s mentors, and began steering investors to his son-in-law, beginning at a most unlikely place – a Borscht Belt summer resort where later many of the elderly Jewish investors would lose their life savings in Bernie’s fraud.
• Joan Alpern Roman
Ruth’s sister who, like Bernie’s sister, would be victimized in the Ponzi scheme. Joan and her husband, Bob, once handled all of Madoff’s insurance business, and were trusting investors in his secretive financial advisory-cum-Ponzi scheme. After Bernie admitted his crimes, the Romans were left virtually penniless, had to put their home on the market, and Ruth’s sister had to find a a small job to bring in money.
• Shana Madoff Skoller Swanson
The skinny, sexy, fashionista daughter of Peter Madoff and Bernie’s niece who was head of compliance at BLMIS. Employees describe her as a “spoiled diva” who spent time at work ordering and sending back clothes and shoes and treating underlings like slaves. She came under investigative scrutiny because of her second marriage to a former SEC lawyer, raising questions of conflict of interest. Bernie joked that she had married “the enemy.”
• Mark and Andrew Madoff
Ruth’s brood, major figures in BLMIS, were mirror images of the first generation brothers of the Madoff dynasty, Bernie and Peter. Like Peter, Andy was the smarter, and Mark, a chip off the old man’s block. Both were said to have turned in their father, and denied any knowledge of his scam, but later both were sued by two Madoff traders who alleged the brothers knew the score.
These are just a few of the leading figures, and there are many more fascinating supporting players – friends, colleagues, and the victims.
