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Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff
Despite all the headlines about Bernard Madoff, who pleaded guilty to running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, he is still shrouded in mystery. Why (and when) did he turn his legitimate business into a massive fraud? How did he fool so many smart investors for so long? Who among his family and employees knew the truth?
The best person to answer these questions—and tell the full story of Madoff’s rise and fall—is Erin Arvedlund. In early 2001, she was suspicious of the amazing returns of Madoff’s hedge fund, which no one could explain. Her article in Barron’s, based on more than one hundred interviews, could have prevented a lot of misery, had the SEC followed up.
But almost no one was willing to believe anything bad about “Uncle Bernie”—so nice, so humble, so generous to charities. As Arvedlund shows, Madoff was no ordinary liar, but a master of the type of lies people really wanted to believe. He kept his clients at a distance and allowed handsomely paid friends to solicit new ones for him; playing hard to get created an irresistible mystique.
Now, Arvedlund tackles the tough questions that are still unanswered in the wake of Madoff’s collapse:
Did he start off as a legitimate money manager or was he a fraud from the beginning? Were there indications of larceny at the very start of his career?
Why did Madoff’s biggest supporters within the industry, such as Walter Noel of Fairfield Greenwich and Ezra Merkin of Gabriel Capital, ignore the warning signs that were so apparent? Did they choose to remain ignorant as long as their commissions rolled in?
Why did SEC investigations fail to catch Madoff’s Ponzi scheme even though several people had voiced concerns about his operation?
Who else helped Madoff carry out his scam? His family and close associates have denied any involvement, but was it possible for one man to engineer a heist of such scope?
With her keen investigative eye, Arvedlund presents a sweeping narrative of Madoff’s career—from his youth in Queens, New York, to his early days working for his father-in-law, to his time as chairman of the NASDAQ exchange, and finally to infamy as the world’s most notorious swindler. She offers a riveting glimpse of Madoff the man—an indifferent student with little ambition who transformed himself into a star with a talent for trading, a reputation for innovation, and an unmistakably erratic nature.
Readers will be fascinated by Arvedlund’s portrayal of Madoff, his empire, and all those who never considered that he might be too good to be true.
The best person to answer these questions—and tell the full story of Madoff’s rise and fall—is Erin Arvedlund. In early 2001, she was suspicious of the amazing returns of Madoff’s hedge fund, which no one could explain. Her article in Barron’s, based on more than one hundred interviews, could have prevented a lot of misery, had the SEC followed up.
But almost no one was willing to believe anything bad about “Uncle Bernie”—so nice, so humble, so generous to charities. As Arvedlund shows, Madoff was no ordinary liar, but a master of the type of lies people really wanted to believe. He kept his clients at a distance and allowed handsomely paid friends to solicit new ones for him; playing hard to get created an irresistible mystique.
Now, Arvedlund tackles the tough questions that are still unanswered in the wake of Madoff’s collapse:
Did he start off as a legitimate money manager or was he a fraud from the beginning? Were there indications of larceny at the very start of his career?
Why did Madoff’s biggest supporters within the industry, such as Walter Noel of Fairfield Greenwich and Ezra Merkin of Gabriel Capital, ignore the warning signs that were so apparent? Did they choose to remain ignorant as long as their commissions rolled in?
Why did SEC investigations fail to catch Madoff’s Ponzi scheme even though several people had voiced concerns about his operation?
Who else helped Madoff carry out his scam? His family and close associates have denied any involvement, but was it possible for one man to engineer a heist of such scope?
With her keen investigative eye, Arvedlund presents a sweeping narrative of Madoff’s career—from his youth in Queens, New York, to his early days working for his father-in-law, to his time as chairman of the NASDAQ exchange, and finally to infamy as the world’s most notorious swindler. She offers a riveting glimpse of Madoff the man—an indifferent student with little ambition who transformed himself into a star with a talent for trading, a reputation for innovation, and an unmistakably erratic nature.
Readers will be fascinated by Arvedlund’s portrayal of Madoff, his empire, and all those who never considered that he might be too good to be true.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 3, 2009
78 people are currently reading
1185 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
January 22, 2019
Όταν ξεκίνησα την χρονιά διαβάζοντας για τον Bernard Lawrence Madoff ούτε που υποψιαζόμουν σε ποιο βαθμό θα με συνεπάρει...
October 7, 2014
All the facts, but presented like a university lecturer that you'd fall asleep to, which I did at times, because my version is an audio book. Too bad, because the story, as we all know, is astounding - how Bernie managed to rip off seasoned financial geniuses and well-informed customers to the tune of $60 billion. That's billion with a B. I'm waiting for the Walter Isaacson version. Now there's someone who can make science or technology accessible to all. (BTW I earned a B. Commerce and still had trouble with this book).
November 16, 2009
Although a fascinating topic, the author presented the material in a very disjointed and scattered manner with a tremendous amount of repetition. In some instancs I found myself going back a page or two thinking I was rereading pages only to find material being repeated that very closely resembled what I had just read.
This author wrote a very important article in Barron's regarding the Madoff case. I can only say that each chapter in the book feels like a totally separate article written as a complete and total story - with much detail repeated from prior chapters.
Many non-fiction books today read like fiction with a beginning a middle and an end. Not this one. The author was introducing new characters on page 247, at a detail level that really was unnecessary and very uninteresting.
I would strongly have suggested the author introduce all the players at the beginning, then define hedge funds, the role of the SEC, etc., next discuss who played what roles, discussed how the investors were recruited, then identified how Madoff almost got caught so many times and then confessed - in this order. Instead, this type of information was pretty much repeated in each chapter with different players being introduced each time. I would have finished off the book with a bit more about the victims.
If you are interested in the fine points of the Madoff case, feel free to read this book, but I would suggest doing a lot of skimming to bypass the repeated data and the information that doesn't matter.
This author wrote a very important article in Barron's regarding the Madoff case. I can only say that each chapter in the book feels like a totally separate article written as a complete and total story - with much detail repeated from prior chapters.
Many non-fiction books today read like fiction with a beginning a middle and an end. Not this one. The author was introducing new characters on page 247, at a detail level that really was unnecessary and very uninteresting.
I would strongly have suggested the author introduce all the players at the beginning, then define hedge funds, the role of the SEC, etc., next discuss who played what roles, discussed how the investors were recruited, then identified how Madoff almost got caught so many times and then confessed - in this order. Instead, this type of information was pretty much repeated in each chapter with different players being introduced each time. I would have finished off the book with a bit more about the victims.
If you are interested in the fine points of the Madoff case, feel free to read this book, but I would suggest doing a lot of skimming to bypass the repeated data and the information that doesn't matter.
February 15, 2023
Although it read like a Whose Who Who were scammed by Bernie, it was a tad disorganized. Each chapter was repetitive at times and hard to follow a timeline. Tons of info on the wealthy. If you approach it like short essays per chapter you might get more. I would still recommend Henriques book if you are interested in a solid timeline.
July 30, 2011
This was Arvedlund's first book and it does have many problems that one would expect from a new author. Her editors did a very shoddy job of helping her tighten it up. Leaving aside the subject matter, the chapters feel unguided, there are huge chunks of repeated material that leave one feeling a sense of deja vu, and she often neglects to define a word or acronym in an early chapter and then will do so in a later chapter, which makes for distracting and difficult reading.
While no one will accuse the author of not doing her homework, there is simply too much trivial/tangential information in the book that makes us lose sight of the forest. Every broker, investor etc. involved in the case is given a backstory about their grandparents. This becomes tedious and dry after 30 pages, never mind 300, especially as the information is just randomly inserted, taking away from the main ideas.
Overall, it does a good job of repeating and repeating how Madoff was able to get away with it, all the blind eyes that were turned, the agencies that failed to do due diligence, and describing the sociology of the social networks of the uber wealthy. She presents a vast amount of information that I found useful in beginning to get a "feel" for how frauds are committed. In its few moments of succumbing to just being an interesting "lifestyles of the rich and famous" book, it presents a fascinating look inside Madoff's world of yachts and 1000$ sweaters. Those interested in financial crimes should get something out of it, and it should serve as a nice balance to Markopolous' tale, which is first-person.
While no one will accuse the author of not doing her homework, there is simply too much trivial/tangential information in the book that makes us lose sight of the forest. Every broker, investor etc. involved in the case is given a backstory about their grandparents. This becomes tedious and dry after 30 pages, never mind 300, especially as the information is just randomly inserted, taking away from the main ideas.
Overall, it does a good job of repeating and repeating how Madoff was able to get away with it, all the blind eyes that were turned, the agencies that failed to do due diligence, and describing the sociology of the social networks of the uber wealthy. She presents a vast amount of information that I found useful in beginning to get a "feel" for how frauds are committed. In its few moments of succumbing to just being an interesting "lifestyles of the rich and famous" book, it presents a fascinating look inside Madoff's world of yachts and 1000$ sweaters. Those interested in financial crimes should get something out of it, and it should serve as a nice balance to Markopolous' tale, which is first-person.
September 8, 2009
Much remains to be known and revealed about Madoff's giant Ponzi scam, but this book is a very good start. Arvedlund wrote an article for Barron's in 2001 wondering about Madoff's success but didn't follow up in the intervening years. Using news reports, court filings, Congressional testimony, and interviews with people who either knew or observed Madoff (but none of the true insiders), she compiles a fascinating narrative of Madoff's businesses - one legitimate, the other a phony "hedge fund," and details (to the degree that she can) how the money came in, where it went, who most likely knew shenanigans were going on, who should have and could have done due diligence but didn't, why the SEC didn't act even when evidence of illegality was presented to it. Some of her sources speculate about what happened, how, and why, but it all seems to be very reasonable speculation. The book sometimes reads like it was hastily assembled (information appears, is repeated two pages later, then four pages later; some minor characters are left out of the index). Overall, though, this is a well written and absorbing book.
January 12, 2010
I sort of got into the Madoff thing, it appeared there were plenty of books on the shelf after the incident . Everybody was a Bernie expert I guess .
This book was very detailed. Probably more than anybody but a Wall Street analyist cares to read about . If you work on wall street or are an investment broker your name is probably in here . She goes on and on with name after name and every backstory that nobody really cares about unless you know the people .
She could have cut this book in more than half and said the same thing . It was not badly written, but , told you little about the man himself except he was a crook . She comments on the same material three and four times in various chapters, perhaps feeling the reader will forget what was on the chapters previous .
It was not a bad read, but,Brian Ross's book was much more to the point . His book had pictures, as it is sometimes good to see the people you are reading about .
Again, looks like somebody who perhaps knew a bit of Bernie and rushed to get something on the shelf while the iron was hot .
I would only pay $ 5.00 for it now at Barnes and Noble .
This book was very detailed. Probably more than anybody but a Wall Street analyist cares to read about . If you work on wall street or are an investment broker your name is probably in here . She goes on and on with name after name and every backstory that nobody really cares about unless you know the people .
She could have cut this book in more than half and said the same thing . It was not badly written, but , told you little about the man himself except he was a crook . She comments on the same material three and four times in various chapters, perhaps feeling the reader will forget what was on the chapters previous .
It was not a bad read, but,Brian Ross's book was much more to the point . His book had pictures, as it is sometimes good to see the people you are reading about .
Again, looks like somebody who perhaps knew a bit of Bernie and rushed to get something on the shelf while the iron was hot .
I would only pay $ 5.00 for it now at Barnes and Noble .
April 1, 2018
This should not be the first book you read on this topic but it is an important addition to your knowledge the inside of the office things that went on. If you want to know about hedge funds and how the insides worked when Madoff was swindling this is a good look. Indeed you get a glimpse at a part of this story you have not gotten from the other books. Certainly it was repetitive in places but there was information that was not covered anywhere else. I am not in the biz but I still found it to be of interest. People were standing on their heads to invest with Bernie and the fact he swindled so many friends and nonprofits shows you he was without a soul. I heard he has started to hoard and control the hot cocoa in prison and is admired by many prisoners. He will die in prison and certainly that is not enough punishment for many of his victims, some of whom were Holocaust survivors.
Editors are rare these days and as readers we feel it. There are many other Madoff books that will give you other parts of the story, this one is fairly dry but you get the facts you may have been missing in the other books that tell more about the people than the actions involved.
Editors are rare these days and as readers we feel it. There are many other Madoff books that will give you other parts of the story, this one is fairly dry but you get the facts you may have been missing in the other books that tell more about the people than the actions involved.
June 23, 2015
A very, very detailed telling of Bernie Madoff's story of the greatest Ponzi scheme ever and of everyone involved. The book is very long, very involved, very technical, and often repetitious. In fact, the book was so repetitious, that I kept checking to see if my audio book had skipped back. Perhaps if you're a real finance geek, you might enjoy getting as deep into the weeds as the author takes you, but I found it hard to follow and understand. Even the background stories on minor characters seemed to go on forever and weren't relevant to the real story.
Unless you really love a lot of detail or don't mind skimming, I would not recommend this book. And i definitely would not recommend the audio book, primarily because of the amount of detail.
Unless you really love a lot of detail or don't mind skimming, I would not recommend this book. And i definitely would not recommend the audio book, primarily because of the amount of detail.
February 14, 2016
This is a book I read before. At the time I found it a difficult read. Re-reading it now, I understood it much better. Many reviewers say the book, unlike a lot of nonfiction today, did not read like a novel, well it's not a novel, it's nonfiction account of the biggest financial fraud in US history. Also, many people commented on the author's repeating herself throughout. I found this to be true, but, I found it helpful. This scam involved a lot of players, hedge funds, institutions and billions of dollars, the repetition helped me keep things straight. The author is a financial reporter, and the book reads like a long article in the Wall Street Journal or Fortune. It's worth reading, to learn the what happened.
June 24, 2013
Arevedlund somewhat diminishes the topic with a fairly muddled narrative. It isn't exactly chronological, and the most interesting stuff is dealt with early on. The remainder is an eye glazing litany of all of the various cash intakes Madoff made mostly in the last several years. Nor is there adequate explanation of some of the market tricks Madoff employed in bilking his "clients." A cleaner treatment would have focused on what he did, how he was exposed, and how "clients" let Madoff get away with the Ponzi scheme.
April 21, 2016
This is a tough book to recommend. Erin Arvedlund delivery is a matter of fact and a tad bland. It is awash with names, events and circumstances that can quickly lose the reader. In a space of 50 pages at least three dozen names of people and companies get thrown at you which it is not very interesting as it is all back story and does not get to the meat of the corruption.
I am sure there are better books out there on Madoff.
Abandoned by page 70
I am sure there are better books out there on Madoff.
Abandoned by page 70
April 30, 2019
Considering the several points of view and not-easy-to-track sources, the author delivered a most interesting job to those who like the theme. At some points fell on repetitive, back and forth on recalling a who is who that was delivered a few chapters before, but is justifiable taking into account there huge volume and the people involved. In the overall a nice job, and a pretty good opera prima, much more in perspective of the moment the book was written.
December 8, 2011
This is an encyclopedic volume that fills in a nice hole of the Madoff literature: instead of being all about him and his sociopathic abilities, as many books on the case are, it instead talks at great, documented length about the numerous "enablers" who helped funnel all that money to him in the first place. There is a lot of detailed information here for anyone wondering, "who were these rubes that took millions of dollars in fees from Madoff while mindlessly funneling him other people's money?"
Likewise, for anyone wondering why something so big could go on for so long without detection, there is plenty of evidence that many, many people knew that Madoff's "hedge fund" was at best shady, and at worst a fraud. One banker from Toronto figured it out after just fifteen minutes of talking to Madoff. But most were happy to turn a blind eye, since they were getting plenty of benefit from doing so.
Because this is a book more about the large circle that fed Madoff, rather than about him per-se, this is probably not the book one should start with if reading from scratch on the scandal. For that, try The Madoff Chronicles: Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth or Madoff with the Money. If you're still interested, then tackle this book.
The one main irritation of this book is it is very repetitive--the author repeats some of the same basic information over and over, and over. It would have also been nice to be provided a cast of characters to refer to in an appendix or elsewhere, as there are a lot of names here (though I suppose this is one place her repetition actually helps). Because she deals with the various personalities and their acts more-or-less individually, the timelines often overlap, which can add to the confusion.
Those shortcomings aside, this book does a great job showing that, regardless of Madoff's claim that he "acted alone," in reality there was a large ensemble who were more than willing to be kept fat, dumb, and happy by him who arguably did the bulk of the damage in perpetuating the fraud amongst many communities. It also clearly shows just how unsophisticated many "sophisticated" investors really are, doing business on a handshake with a golfing partner and no due diligence.
Finally, this book makes one very clear argument that I have heard nowhere else, and I think it bears calling out: it's well-known that in addition to this Ponzi scheme, Madoff ran a legitimate market-making operation (or more precisely, his sons did). It has often been parroted that that business provided a great cover for Madoff, as he would parade potential clients and even auditors around the trading floor, making it appear that this is where all the money for his hedge fund was being made (when in fact it was being fabricated in a grungy space on the floor below by a group of hacks who back-dated trades on paper). It was also this market-making business that gave Madoff stature as a pioneer in electronic trading (leading to his two-term tenure as head of the NASDAQ). Most are willing to give Madoff the benefit that this business was on the up-and-up.
But this book makes the case that, if anything, it was Madoff's need to fund this business with off-book money that led to him starting the hedge fund ponzi in the first place. This is an interesting theory. And even if it proves speculative, it is very much documented here that this trading business is what enabled all those feeders who knew something was up to think that this was Bernie's magic: that he made those consistent profits year after year by using his trading floor to engage in the illegal (but hard to detect) practice of front-running. The upshot is that even Madoff's "legitimate" business was, arguably, just as much a part of the scam.
Likewise, for anyone wondering why something so big could go on for so long without detection, there is plenty of evidence that many, many people knew that Madoff's "hedge fund" was at best shady, and at worst a fraud. One banker from Toronto figured it out after just fifteen minutes of talking to Madoff. But most were happy to turn a blind eye, since they were getting plenty of benefit from doing so.
Because this is a book more about the large circle that fed Madoff, rather than about him per-se, this is probably not the book one should start with if reading from scratch on the scandal. For that, try The Madoff Chronicles: Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth or Madoff with the Money. If you're still interested, then tackle this book.
The one main irritation of this book is it is very repetitive--the author repeats some of the same basic information over and over, and over. It would have also been nice to be provided a cast of characters to refer to in an appendix or elsewhere, as there are a lot of names here (though I suppose this is one place her repetition actually helps). Because she deals with the various personalities and their acts more-or-less individually, the timelines often overlap, which can add to the confusion.
Those shortcomings aside, this book does a great job showing that, regardless of Madoff's claim that he "acted alone," in reality there was a large ensemble who were more than willing to be kept fat, dumb, and happy by him who arguably did the bulk of the damage in perpetuating the fraud amongst many communities. It also clearly shows just how unsophisticated many "sophisticated" investors really are, doing business on a handshake with a golfing partner and no due diligence.
Finally, this book makes one very clear argument that I have heard nowhere else, and I think it bears calling out: it's well-known that in addition to this Ponzi scheme, Madoff ran a legitimate market-making operation (or more precisely, his sons did). It has often been parroted that that business provided a great cover for Madoff, as he would parade potential clients and even auditors around the trading floor, making it appear that this is where all the money for his hedge fund was being made (when in fact it was being fabricated in a grungy space on the floor below by a group of hacks who back-dated trades on paper). It was also this market-making business that gave Madoff stature as a pioneer in electronic trading (leading to his two-term tenure as head of the NASDAQ). Most are willing to give Madoff the benefit that this business was on the up-and-up.
But this book makes the case that, if anything, it was Madoff's need to fund this business with off-book money that led to him starting the hedge fund ponzi in the first place. This is an interesting theory. And even if it proves speculative, it is very much documented here that this trading business is what enabled all those feeders who knew something was up to think that this was Bernie's magic: that he made those consistent profits year after year by using his trading floor to engage in the illegal (but hard to detect) practice of front-running. The upshot is that even Madoff's "legitimate" business was, arguably, just as much a part of the scam.
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May 16, 2025Difficult to follow timeline
December 29, 2009
It's been a year since Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme was exposed, revealing that for years, Madoff had gotten away with scamming thousands of people around the world out of billions of dollars.
I had never really been interested in Madoff before, but I recently saw a documentary about the scandal which piqued my interest and out of the three books about Madoff at my local bookstore, I chose this one to read.
The book spans Madoff's entire life, from his childhood to his arrest on December 11, 2008. The most emphasis, of course, is on his years spent running his super-secret phony hedge fund. How long the scam actually ran is still a mystery, but most believe it was at least 10-12 years and probably more. Madoff himself said very little in his allocution that would explain how long the scheme had been in place or why he began it in the first place.
Admittedly, much of the financial jargon was beyond my understanding. Options, calls, puts, split-strike conversions -- these are the things Madoff's magic formula were supposedly made of. And while I never quite grasped just how it all worked, the gist was this: Madoff made money off of other people's trust, gullibility, and greed. The bottom line was that his scheme worked because people were either too lazy to do the proper digging or too afraid to dig too deep for fear that their cash cow would dry up.
Arvedlund does a great job of documenting the extent to which Madoff's scheme permeated the financial world. Many times, the people who lost everything to Madoff didn't even know he controlled their money. The complexity of the scheme was impressive and also makes it increasingly hard to believe that Madoff orchestrated the entire thing on his own as he claims.
The saddest part of the story, besides the fact that so many people lost everything (and my sympathy goes out to those who didn't know they'd invested with Madoff and not those who turned a blind eye to Madoff's actions because the money was good), is that Madoff had a highly successful legitimate broker-dealer business that had given him the good reputation on Wall Street that he used to lure in his prey.
Overall it was a fascinating account of how one man robbed thousands of Peters to pay basically one Paul -- himself. Arvedlund's writing style is clear and concise and she does a decent job of connecting the dots. She also bookends the chapters with Madoff's arrest and allocution (Introduction) and his sentencing (Epilogue), which I found effective in bringing the story full circle.
However, there was never a solid timeline and a lot of the events covered in the book jumped around in time. I found it hard to align them all in my head. Not to mention, there is a glaring lack of WHY in the story, though this isn't Arvedlund's fault. Madoff himself has never really offered a motive beyond his lame explanation that it all started after he suffered a loss, was too embarrassed to admit it, used the scam to cover his losses, and just let it continue for years. I personally don't buy it, but I don't think we'll ever really know the truth.
Madoff was ultimately sentenced to 150 years in prison. For a 72 year old man, the sentence is purely symbolic and does little to provide justice to his victims.
I had never really been interested in Madoff before, but I recently saw a documentary about the scandal which piqued my interest and out of the three books about Madoff at my local bookstore, I chose this one to read.
The book spans Madoff's entire life, from his childhood to his arrest on December 11, 2008. The most emphasis, of course, is on his years spent running his super-secret phony hedge fund. How long the scam actually ran is still a mystery, but most believe it was at least 10-12 years and probably more. Madoff himself said very little in his allocution that would explain how long the scheme had been in place or why he began it in the first place.
Admittedly, much of the financial jargon was beyond my understanding. Options, calls, puts, split-strike conversions -- these are the things Madoff's magic formula were supposedly made of. And while I never quite grasped just how it all worked, the gist was this: Madoff made money off of other people's trust, gullibility, and greed. The bottom line was that his scheme worked because people were either too lazy to do the proper digging or too afraid to dig too deep for fear that their cash cow would dry up.
Arvedlund does a great job of documenting the extent to which Madoff's scheme permeated the financial world. Many times, the people who lost everything to Madoff didn't even know he controlled their money. The complexity of the scheme was impressive and also makes it increasingly hard to believe that Madoff orchestrated the entire thing on his own as he claims.
The saddest part of the story, besides the fact that so many people lost everything (and my sympathy goes out to those who didn't know they'd invested with Madoff and not those who turned a blind eye to Madoff's actions because the money was good), is that Madoff had a highly successful legitimate broker-dealer business that had given him the good reputation on Wall Street that he used to lure in his prey.
Overall it was a fascinating account of how one man robbed thousands of Peters to pay basically one Paul -- himself. Arvedlund's writing style is clear and concise and she does a decent job of connecting the dots. She also bookends the chapters with Madoff's arrest and allocution (Introduction) and his sentencing (Epilogue), which I found effective in bringing the story full circle.
However, there was never a solid timeline and a lot of the events covered in the book jumped around in time. I found it hard to align them all in my head. Not to mention, there is a glaring lack of WHY in the story, though this isn't Arvedlund's fault. Madoff himself has never really offered a motive beyond his lame explanation that it all started after he suffered a loss, was too embarrassed to admit it, used the scam to cover his losses, and just let it continue for years. I personally don't buy it, but I don't think we'll ever really know the truth.
Madoff was ultimately sentenced to 150 years in prison. For a 72 year old man, the sentence is purely symbolic and does little to provide justice to his victims.
February 15, 2019
3.5
I really enjoyed this book. After binge watching American Greed the past couple of weeks I really wanted to understand Madoffs Ponzi scheme in more detail. I knew only basic information and even in 2008-9 I don't recall too much conversation on the details. I can see why. It was a lot of information and pretty confusing at times. However, I think the book did a good job at expressing major points, even if it came off as repetitive at times. Due to the technical knowledge of the book, I appreciated it.
Like many non-fiction books, it is not in chronological order. Instead, the chapters focus on a certain detail of the scheme or describes certain people/companies that played important roles.
In my opinion, this book could have been a true 4, or even 5, if it was edited better. Sometimes, it was hard to keep up with the point. However, I felt like the book also had a lot of knowledge within it. For the reason, I would suggest reading it, if it is a topic you want more information on.
I really enjoyed this book. After binge watching American Greed the past couple of weeks I really wanted to understand Madoffs Ponzi scheme in more detail. I knew only basic information and even in 2008-9 I don't recall too much conversation on the details. I can see why. It was a lot of information and pretty confusing at times. However, I think the book did a good job at expressing major points, even if it came off as repetitive at times. Due to the technical knowledge of the book, I appreciated it.
Like many non-fiction books, it is not in chronological order. Instead, the chapters focus on a certain detail of the scheme or describes certain people/companies that played important roles.
In my opinion, this book could have been a true 4, or even 5, if it was edited better. Sometimes, it was hard to keep up with the point. However, I felt like the book also had a lot of knowledge within it. For the reason, I would suggest reading it, if it is a topic you want more information on.
September 23, 2009
This book was interesting and a real eye opener to how intelligent people can get roped into a Ponzi scheme. It is interesting the secrecy around Madoff's illegal business and the phony financial statements he producted for his investors to help make it survive. It was just when stocks were going down and everyone wanted their money that his world came tumbling down. I also learned about the feeder funds whom sought out clients for Bernie. Also, it was interesting that many of the investors possibly believed Madoff was doing something that was wrong or, but possibly greed got the best of them. But, they truly were the victims of his fraudulent hedge fund. I wish the book would have researched on who might have known about the scheme, but maybe it was such a cloud of secrecy that noone would talk anyways.
December 9, 2010
It's not easy to get in with the rich but once you do, and you have their trust, you can do practically whatever you want. His clients ran the gamut from mega-rich (who most likely knew better) to little people (who wouldn't even know what questions to ask).
The crazy thing is Madoff was plenty talented and successful in his legit business. He was ahead of the game on computer trading and fast automation which is the way it's all done now.
And, some of these rich guys were cheating in ways I don't think average Americans could even think of. The one guy told Madoff to send him false statements from an account dated before the account had even been opened. Told Madoff to show big losses or gains depending on what would benefit him. And, Madoff did all these things. Ego doesn't really cover it.
The crazy thing is Madoff was plenty talented and successful in his legit business. He was ahead of the game on computer trading and fast automation which is the way it's all done now.
And, some of these rich guys were cheating in ways I don't think average Americans could even think of. The one guy told Madoff to send him false statements from an account dated before the account had even been opened. Told Madoff to show big losses or gains depending on what would benefit him. And, Madoff did all these things. Ego doesn't really cover it.
March 1, 2014
Much preferred the last half of the book. The first half was repetitive which left me with the sense that the book was rushed to print back in 2009 just after Madoff was sentenced.
More insights into the personal life of the young Bernie would have been nice to help the reader understand the key events and persons which shaped his character. Those gaps in the book caused it to be less of a compelling read than it could have otherwise been. Still I commend the author for capturing in some detail the willful blindness of professional investors who should known better. The book is a story of the horrible consequences of greed. The name Bernie Madoff will live on in infamy long after he has left side of eternity.
More insights into the personal life of the young Bernie would have been nice to help the reader understand the key events and persons which shaped his character. Those gaps in the book caused it to be less of a compelling read than it could have otherwise been. Still I commend the author for capturing in some detail the willful blindness of professional investors who should known better. The book is a story of the horrible consequences of greed. The name Bernie Madoff will live on in infamy long after he has left side of eternity.
Read
March 31, 2010I tried to read this under it's other title "Madoff: The Man Who Stole $65 Billion". I was confused about whether they were two different books, but Boffins web site says
'First published in the USA under the title, "Too Good To Be True" '
I couldn't get much past the first chapter, but it's likely that this is due to my failings rather than the book's.
So, I'm not going to give this my rating (which would be 2 star).
Because Bernie didn't testiify in court, I think it's hard to find out the full story, so it's hard to create a exciting narrative. An abridged version would have been easier to read.
However, books like these need to be written, and read (by someone)!
'First published in the USA under the title, "Too Good To Be True" '
I couldn't get much past the first chapter, but it's likely that this is due to my failings rather than the book's.
So, I'm not going to give this my rating (which would be 2 star).
Because Bernie didn't testiify in court, I think it's hard to find out the full story, so it's hard to create a exciting narrative. An abridged version would have been easier to read.
However, books like these need to be written, and read (by someone)!
May 20, 2018
Listened on hoopla. This may have been a little technical, but it was totally necessary in order to show how Madoff was able to get away with it. The psychology behind getting people to invest fascinated me. Madoff actually tried to get Trump to invest when Madoff became a member of Mar-A-Largo, but Trump refused.
This book is more factual than personal. It does not give too much personal insight into the Madoff family, as I expected, but I don't think anyone can truly understand this evil man's mind. I don't think I would have been able to read the physical book (because of all the financial technicalities), but I really enjoyed listening to it.
This book is more factual than personal. It does not give too much personal insight into the Madoff family, as I expected, but I don't think anyone can truly understand this evil man's mind. I don't think I would have been able to read the physical book (because of all the financial technicalities), but I really enjoyed listening to it.
July 12, 2024
Fascinating event of trust & greed & incompetence (SEC). Madoff died this year, in prison at 82, out living his 2 sons, which sparked my interest in this story:
* importance of regulation w teeth!
* delusion of self-regulating industry (however competitive sleuthing filled in where regulatory body horrendously failed)
* tax on wealth, since wealth appears to do little in bringing about any emotional comfort, let alone happiness
Writing wasn’t great but gave enough bits for me to Google as much as turn the pages.
* importance of regulation w teeth!
* delusion of self-regulating industry (however competitive sleuthing filled in where regulatory body horrendously failed)
* tax on wealth, since wealth appears to do little in bringing about any emotional comfort, let alone happiness
Writing wasn’t great but gave enough bits for me to Google as much as turn the pages.
November 8, 2013
The subject matter was interesting and it was well-researched, but the material was not well-organized. I believe the book was adapted from a series of articles that the author wrote and the result was at times disjointed and repetitive. In a rush to get the book published while Madoff was still topical, the editing appears to have been minimal. Still, the story was interesting, just not told as interestingly as it could have been.
December 2, 2019
Not an easy story to tell since there are so many linkages and Madoff's "hedge fund" had a complicated structure. But I found the book fascinating which implies that I could follow the author's writing and I think it is an honest book since the author often clarifies which sources she used and who was not willing to be interviewed for the book. Instead of being sensational, the author drily explains Madoff's activities, which I highly appreciate.
March 9, 2010
Audio. Such a remarkably interesting book. It really gets you mad to see what one person can do to hurt so many other.
I did feel that the book could have used more editing. There was a lot of very repetitive passages. The some of the details I thought may have been better in footnotes to improve the flow of the story and make the book more readable.
I did feel that the book could have used more editing. There was a lot of very repetitive passages. The some of the details I thought may have been better in footnotes to improve the flow of the story and make the book more readable.
September 25, 2010
This book was very hard for me to get through. After getting nearly half way through, I set it aside for about six months. There is just a lot of technical detail - not hard to understand, just very dry - that made it a chore to get through the book.
That being said, this is a very in depth look at the Bernie Madoff scam and makes it clear why a fraud of such magnitude was able to occur.
That being said, this is a very in depth look at the Bernie Madoff scam and makes it clear why a fraud of such magnitude was able to occur.
July 12, 2015
Very repetitive with poor editing and chaotic organization. It would have been easier to follow if done in a chronological order. I did learn a lot about the mechanics of the con but I also felt that the people who were conned did not do due diligence. Isn't it prudent not to put all your money in one place?
September 3, 2011
I agree with readers the author was repetitive and included unnecessary information, but her accounting of the facts appeared well researched. It would have read better if we had more insight into Madoff's head, but understandably this was not available.
August 11, 2013
The summary was much more interesting than the book. My bad. Business does not intrigue me that's why this book did not grab my attention. I could not finish it, but maybe someday I might change my mind, who knows.
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