The Wizard of Lies

The Wizard of Lies
Author: Diana B. Henriques
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2011-04-26
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1429973714

"An impressive, meticulously reported postmortem. . . . The Wizard of Lies is the definitive book on what Madoff did and how he did it." —Bloomberg Businessweek Who was Bernie Madoff, and how did he pull off the biggest Ponzi scheme in history? This question has long fascinated people, about the New York financier who swindled his friends, relatives, and other investors out of $65 billion. And in The Wizard of Lies, Diana B. Henriques of the New York Times has written the definitive and bestselling account of the man and his scheme, drawing on unprecedented access and more than one hundred interviews, including Madoff’s first interviews for publication following his arrest. Henriques provides vivid details from the lawsuits and government investigations that explode the myths that have come to surround the story, and in a revised and expanded epilogue, she unravels the latest legal developments. A true-life financial thriller—and now a major HBO film starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer—The Wizard of Lies contrasts Madoff’s remarkable rise on Wall Street with dramatic scenes from his accelerating slide toward self-destruction. It is also the most complete account of the heartbreaking personal disasters and landmark legal battles triggered by Madoff’s downfall—the suicides, business failures, fractured families, shuttered charities—and the clear lessons this timeless scandal offers to Washington, Wall Street, and Main Street.

Too Good to Be True

Too Good to Be True
Author: Erin Arvedlund
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2009-08-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1101137789

The untold story of the Madoff scandal, by one of the first journalists to question his investment practices Despite all the headlines about Bernard Madoff, he is still shrouded in mystery. How did he fool so many smart investors for so long? Who among his family and employees knew the truth? The person best qualified to answer these questions is Erin Arvedlund. In early 2001, she was suspicious of the amazing returns of Madoff's hedge fund. Her subsequent article in Barron's could have prevented a lot of misery, had the SEC followed up. Arvedlund presents a sweeping narrative of Madoff's career-from his youth in Queens, New York, to his early days working for his father­in- law, and finally to infamy as the world's most notorious swindler. 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.

Betrayal

Betrayal
Author: Andrew Kirtzman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2010-08-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0061870773

This is the story of the greatest con in financial history—one that has commanded the attention of the entire world from the day the news broke on December 11, 2008. Bernard Madoff's financial scheming roped in thousands of victims, ranging from boldfaced names—Steven Spielberg, Mortimer Zuckerman, Kevin Bacon, Elie Wiesel—to ordinary people who saw their nest eggs disappear in a smoke-and-mirrors debacle. The Enron machinations pale beside the havoc that Madoff created in people's lives. Who is this Bernie Madoff? A shady con man? A sociopath? An evil genius? Who was in on it with him? And where is the money? The established expert on the Bernie Madoff case, journalist Andrew Kirtzman offers a riveting analysis of the man and his deeds that is filled with solid research and suspenseful storytelling.

No One Would Listen

No One Would Listen
Author: Harry Markopolos
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2011-02-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470919000

Harry Markopolos and his team of financial sleuths discuss first-hand how they cracked the Madoff Ponzi scheme No One Would Listen is the thrilling story of how the Harry Markopolos, a little-known number cruncher from a Boston equity derivatives firm, and his investigative team uncovered Bernie Madoff's scam years before it made headlines, and how they desperately tried to warn the government, the industry, and the financial press. Page by page, Markopolos details his pursuit of the greatest financial criminal in history, and reveals the massive fraud, governmental incompetence, and criminal collusion that has changed thousands of lives forever-as well as the world's financial system. The only book to tell the story of Madoff's scam and the SEC's failings by those who saw both first hand Describes how Madoff was enabled by investors and fiduciaries alike Discusses how the SEC missed the red flags raised by Markopolos Despite repeated written and verbal warnings to the SEC by Harry Markopolos, Bernie Madoff was allowed to continue his operations. No One Would Listen paints a vivid portrait of Markopolos and his determined team of financial sleuths, and what impact Madoff's scam will have on financial markets and regulation for decades to come.

Truth and Consequences

Truth and Consequences
Author: Laurie Sandell
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2011-10-31
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0316198927

In December 2008, the world watched as master financier Bernard L. Madoff was taken away from his posh Manhattan apartment in handcuffs, accused of swindling thousands of innocent victims-including friends and family-out of billions of dollars in the world's largest Ponzi scheme. Madoff went to jail; he will spend the rest of his life there. But what happened to his devoted wife and sons? The people closest to him, the public reasoned, must have known the truth behind his astounding success. Had they been tricked, too? With unprecedented access to the surviving family members -- wife Ruth, son Andrew and his fiancéee Catherine Hooper -- journalist Laurie Sandell reveals the personal details behind the headlines. How did Andrew and Mark, the sons who'd spent their lives believing in and building their own families around their father's business first learn of the massive deception? How does a wife, who adored her husband since they were teenagers, begin to understand the ramifications of his actions? The Madoffs were a tight-knit and even claustrophobic clan, sticking together through marriages, divorces, and illnesses. But the pressures of enduring the massive scandal push them to their breaking points, most of all son Mark, whose suicide is one of the many tragedies that grew in the wake of the scandal. Muzzled by lawyers, vilified by the media and roundly condemned by the public, the Madoffs have chosen to keep their silence -- until now. Ultimately, theirs is one of the most riveting stories of our time: a modern-day Greek tragedy about money, power, lies, family, truth and consequences.

The End of Normal

The End of Normal
Author: Stephanie Madoff Mack
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2011-10-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101559225

A New York Times bestseller, The End of Normal is the explosive and heartbreaking memoir from the widow of Mark Madoff and the daughter-in-law of Bernard Madoff. When the news of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme broke, no one was more shocked than the members of his own family. Before then, Madoff’s son, Mark, and daughter- in-law, Stephanie, had built an idyllic life. Yet, while Mark’s thriving business was entirely separate from his father’s now notorious fund, he and Stephanie found themselves in the eye of the storm—and grappling with their own sense of betrayal. Mark refused to see or speak to his parents, and on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest, he hanged himself. Left to raise her children as a single mother, Stephanie tells the real story of her marriage to Mark, of being a part of the Madoff family, and of life for two years following her father-in-law’s arrest and incarceration. The End of Normal is a searing inside look at one of the most controversial stories of our time, and an extraordinary memoir of surviving personal tragedy amid public scandal.

The Madoff Chronicles

The Madoff Chronicles
Author: Brian Ross
Publisher: Disney Electronic Content
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2016-01-05
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1484781406

After the news broke of Bernie Madoff's arrest on December 11, 2008, the facts were hard to grasp. Madoff claimed to have stolen fifty billion dollars; the sum seemed impossibly large. But of course it wasn't impossible. And that was only the beginning of the story. As chief investigative correspondent for ABC News, Brian Ross has been on the front lines of the Madoff scandal since the beginning. Throughout the course of his investigation, he and his team have achieved unequaled access to the investigators working to unravel Madoff's fraud, and have succeeded in cultivating sources deep within the walls of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities that no other journalist has reached.The result is an unparalleled, fly-on-the-wall view of a life of corrupted luxury and outrageous lies.

A First-Class Catastrophe

A First-Class Catastrophe
Author: Diana B. Henriques
Publisher: Henry Holt
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2017-09-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1627791647

"The definitive account of the crash of 1987, a cautionary tale of how the U.S. financial system nearly collapsed ... Monday, October 19, 1987, was by far the worst day in Wall Street history. The market fell 22.6 percent--almost twice as bad as the worst day of 1929--equal to a loss of nearly 5,000 points today. But Black Monday was more than just a one-day market crash; it was seven years in the making and threatened the entire U.S. financial system. Drawing on superlative archival research and dozens of original interviews, the award-winning financial journalist Diana B. Henriques weaves a tale of ignored warnings, market delusions, and destructive decisions, a drama that stretches from New York and Washington to Chicago and California. Among the central characters are pension fund managers, bank presidents, government regulators, exchange executives, and a pair of university professors whose bright idea for reducing risk backfires with devastating consequences. As the story hurtles toward a terrible reckoning, the players struggle to avoid a national panic, and unexpected heroes step in to avert total disaster. For thirty years, investors, bankers, and regulators have failed to heed the lessons of Black Monday. But with uncanny precision, all the key fault lines of the devastating crisis of 2008--breakneck automation, poorly understood financial products fueled by vast amounts of borrowed money, fragmented regulation, gigantic herdlike investors--were first exposed as hazards in 1987. A First-Class Catastrophe offers a new way of looking not only at the past but at our financial future as well."--Dust jacket.

The White Sharks of Wall Street

The White Sharks of Wall Street
Author: Diana B. Henriques
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2000
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

A chronicle of the careers of Thomas Mellon Evans and his peers, ruthless corporate raiders in the 1950s who pioneered many of the practices common in today's corporate America, discusses the longterm effects of their actions.