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Madoff: The Final Word
Fifteen years after Bernie Madoff’s arrest, renowned investigative journalist Richard Behar delivers the definitive account of history’s largest—and longest-running—financial fraud.
Some $65 billion evaporated during Bernie Madoff’s epic confidence game. Two people were driven to suicide in the wake of the Ponzi Scheme’s exposure. Others went to prison. But there has never been a satisfying accounting for how Bernie got away with so much, for so long. Until now.
Richard Behar’s relationship with Madoff began in 2011 with a simple email request from the inmate. By the time he died in 2021, he had sent Behar more than 300 emails and dozens of hand-written letters, participated in some fifty (recorded) phone conversations, and sat for three in-person jailhouse interviews—a level of access provided to no other reporter. Behar also established unique relationships with dozens of regulators, prosecutors, investors, Wall Street experts, ex-employees of Madoff’s, and FBI agents.
The result is the final word on the criminal behind history’s most enduring fraud—and on those who believed him, covered for him, or locked him up. Behar reveals not only that the fraud traces back decades earlier than Madoff claimed in his confession, but also the complicity of investors (who unfairly blame the SEC), Wall Street insiders, family members, and some of the largest banks in the US and Europe.
Shocking, infuriating, riveting (and at times absurdly funny), Madoff shows us how Bernie ensnared thousands of investors. As Behar’s dogged reporting over the last fifteen years makes clear, however, there aren’t many innocents left standing by the end of this tale. Just about everyone involved is guilty, at a minimum, of humanity’s most consistent greed.
Some $65 billion evaporated during Bernie Madoff’s epic confidence game. Two people were driven to suicide in the wake of the Ponzi Scheme’s exposure. Others went to prison. But there has never been a satisfying accounting for how Bernie got away with so much, for so long. Until now.
Richard Behar’s relationship with Madoff began in 2011 with a simple email request from the inmate. By the time he died in 2021, he had sent Behar more than 300 emails and dozens of hand-written letters, participated in some fifty (recorded) phone conversations, and sat for three in-person jailhouse interviews—a level of access provided to no other reporter. Behar also established unique relationships with dozens of regulators, prosecutors, investors, Wall Street experts, ex-employees of Madoff’s, and FBI agents.
The result is the final word on the criminal behind history’s most enduring fraud—and on those who believed him, covered for him, or locked him up. Behar reveals not only that the fraud traces back decades earlier than Madoff claimed in his confession, but also the complicity of investors (who unfairly blame the SEC), Wall Street insiders, family members, and some of the largest banks in the US and Europe.
Shocking, infuriating, riveting (and at times absurdly funny), Madoff shows us how Bernie ensnared thousands of investors. As Behar’s dogged reporting over the last fifteen years makes clear, however, there aren’t many innocents left standing by the end of this tale. Just about everyone involved is guilty, at a minimum, of humanity’s most consistent greed.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published July 9, 2024
124 people are currently reading
504 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
May 21, 2024
Could literally not tell you why I read this book but I learned a lot
August 27, 2024
The author spent 10 years researching, and it really shows. It could possibly have gotten much more attention if this came out earlier, but kudos to the author for prioritizing getting all the information right and debunking the myth of Madoff, his family, and everyone who was involved.
While Madoff was alive, he kept hoping this book would be his legacy. And it is anything but. Reading the book was like seeing behind the curtain of Oz. I have no more fascination, completely grossed out by greed for him, his family, and everyone. And that is probably a good thing.
I recommend doing the audiobook. There are actual phone conversations between the author and Madoff in prison sprinkled throughout the book.
While Madoff was alive, he kept hoping this book would be his legacy. And it is anything but. Reading the book was like seeing behind the curtain of Oz. I have no more fascination, completely grossed out by greed for him, his family, and everyone. And that is probably a good thing.
I recommend doing the audiobook. There are actual phone conversations between the author and Madoff in prison sprinkled throughout the book.
June 13, 2024
The book is good. It could be better. I felt like I was sitting at the bar with the guy listening to the story over beers, definitely a good yarn here. It needs editing. Stop reminding me what 703 is. I'm three quarters of the way through the book and you're exhausting me with the reminders. Give me the reminder something like three times, maximum. First third of the book too, by the 75% mark I know damn well that JPMC has an account ending in the numbers 703 that is capable of making some ghoul named alan greenberg nearly have a stroke when asked about it. Let's see what else. Just after the bit about Doctoroff taking over for Cassa there's a mistake. You describe transactions between Levy and Madoff from Manufacturers Hanover and Chemical/JPMC "Bernie would transfer money from to Levy". Is it money from or is it money to? Context saves you if it doesn't get changed but still, you owe me a beer for that one. Don't use the unword "amirite", it's below the rest of the work. It's dumber than Bernie Madoff. Dumber that the SEC. Why did you spend any words defending them? On the subject of the SEC and the characters contained in here, I refuse to believe that you've used real names. Andrew Calamari? Was his partner Bobby Salami? Tommy Tuna was probably on the case as well. Wait there's an Annette Bongiorno? A european guy last name Schon (with the umlaut!). SEC goon named Badway? Alright alright it's too much you got me. I really liked "cell phones were smoking across the city" or whatever that phrase was, that's pretty good. I hope you didn't steal it.
Felt like I learned a ton, which is always good. Things like: the SEC badly needs to get their eyeballs checked. These guys keep reading billions as millions, among other things; Basically blow Madoffs crime off until they start getting frantic phone calls. At this point the wife is just pulling ten cool million out of accounts while the SEC wildly proclaims "it can wait until the morning". So much of Madoff's fraud is hilarious, just total farce. First off, he's just forging documents. That's all. But the mendacity is just preposterous. Making more fake trades than the total volume of all trades on the entire market in some given period. Claiming to an investigator that he has less than 20 clients when he has more than 20 family members in on the scheme with accounts. Just stuff that only the blind would miss. SEC allow me to give you a hot tip, if someone is doing impossible things with money to the point that everyone on wallstreet is saying THIS GUY IS DEFINITELY DOING CRIME you should just put on a pair of fucking glasses and dig through the trash at one of their many mansions where you will likely find a piece of paper that says something like FAKE TRADES at the top, followed by a list of fake trades they are making.
I clearly had a good time reading this, despite every effort you made to bore me to death in the beginning when you're connecting photos on the wall with red string. It's sort of all over the place but if you cut some of the crap I'd say this thing should be in a library someplace. Would benefit from footnotes telling the reader where they all are now. Don't forget that beer you owe me. 4th star when I get it. NETGALLEY!
Felt like I learned a ton, which is always good. Things like: the SEC badly needs to get their eyeballs checked. These guys keep reading billions as millions, among other things; Basically blow Madoffs crime off until they start getting frantic phone calls. At this point the wife is just pulling ten cool million out of accounts while the SEC wildly proclaims "it can wait until the morning". So much of Madoff's fraud is hilarious, just total farce. First off, he's just forging documents. That's all. But the mendacity is just preposterous. Making more fake trades than the total volume of all trades on the entire market in some given period. Claiming to an investigator that he has less than 20 clients when he has more than 20 family members in on the scheme with accounts. Just stuff that only the blind would miss. SEC allow me to give you a hot tip, if someone is doing impossible things with money to the point that everyone on wallstreet is saying THIS GUY IS DEFINITELY DOING CRIME you should just put on a pair of fucking glasses and dig through the trash at one of their many mansions where you will likely find a piece of paper that says something like FAKE TRADES at the top, followed by a list of fake trades they are making.
I clearly had a good time reading this, despite every effort you made to bore me to death in the beginning when you're connecting photos on the wall with red string. It's sort of all over the place but if you cut some of the crap I'd say this thing should be in a library someplace. Would benefit from footnotes telling the reader where they all are now. Don't forget that beer you owe me. 4th star when I get it. NETGALLEY!
November 29, 2024
I think I liked this book but I really do not understand finance and so I feel like goof chunks went over my head. The audio was cool because you got to hear actual conversations between the author and Madoff. The book does pull everything together and speculates on what really happened, but at parts tries to do too much tying Madoff to Trump. I would gladly read that book, but this is not that book and it doesn't need those sections. Also, not sure Behar is the guy to write that book.
July 21, 2024
I listened to the audio version of the book.. it included clips of phone calls between the author and Madoff. It was uncomfortable to hear the author ingratiate himself, however, it seems to have been a strategy to get Madoff to perhaps spill some new beans, over the course of a decade long investigation on the part of the author. No new beans were spilled by Bernie- but the author had the advantage of the passage of time , which allowed him to dig into more recent depositions , talk to prosecutors who brought the case against the Madoff underlings etc. He made a pretty strong case that the Ponzi scheme went way back than Madoff officially admitted, also making the case that his wife and sons were complicit. The most interesting / infuriating parts were about the institutional enablers like JP Morgan chase.
Highly recommend even if you think you know all the details.
Highly recommend even if you think you know all the details.
July 13, 2024
From the beginning when this scandal was revealed, it never felt that the whole truth came out. Even the Hollywood depictions felt incomplete. This book confirmed those suspicions to me. Madoff not only made off with money, he made off with the truth when he turned himself in, pled guilty, and died.
The chapter on JPMorgan Chase will make your blood boil, Crooked as hell.
I appreciate how the author deals with the investors. They put the “greater fools” into that theory.
The chapter on JPMorgan Chase will make your blood boil, Crooked as hell.
I appreciate how the author deals with the investors. They put the “greater fools” into that theory.
September 29, 2024
Over the last 25 years, or so, seems I've not missed many of the numerous, calamitous corporate and financial fraud news stories. Examples of top financial fraud cases in recent history: 1) FTX - The cryptocurrency trading platform FTX. The Nassau, Bahamas-based company was led by founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who now resides in a California prison after being found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, including wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering; 2) Theranos; 3) WorldCom; 4) Waste Management - This Houston, Texas-based trash disposal and clean energy company now holds a sterling reputation as a well-managed, environmentally minded company with a whopping $82 billion market capitalization. In 2002, the SEC charged the company with reporting $1.7 billion in false earnings and for falsely reporting plant, property and equipment depreciation figures. The company was charged with defrauding investors out of an estimated $6 billion. WM also settled a $457 million class-action lawsuit in 2001 related to its 1998 merger with USA Waste Services and financial statements in 1999. In its 2002 filing, the SEC called the Waste Management case "one of the most egregious accounting frauds we have ever seen. For years, these defendants cooked the books, enriched themselves, preserved their jobs and duped unsuspecting shareholders. The defendants' fraudulent conduct was driven by greed and a desire to retain their corporate positions and status in the business and social communities;" 5) Enron
One of the largest corporate fraud cases of the 21st century is Enron, dubbed "America's Most Innovative Company" by Fortune magazine every year from 1996 to 2001. Formed in 1985, the former dot-com supernova made a fortune trading natural gas and other commodities and even rolled out its own digital commodity trading platform in 1999. The Enron scandal resulted in an estimated $74 billion in losses for shareholders; 6) Ivan Boesky; among others.
Since I have a historical connection to Houston, I read one of the Enron scandal books: 'The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron' by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind (first published in 2003). Wow! What a fraud! These criminal corporate executives were very dissimilar to an out-of-work thief holding up a convenience store using a steak knife to feed his family. These corporate criminals do not look dangerous and their motive is easy to understand - strictly greed. And they suck in third party consulting firms, like accounting firms, to assist their large-scale frauds using promises of top dollar repeat business. Recall that Enron's accounting firm was Arthur Anderson, one of the world's largest. It disintegrated in a New York minute or should I say a Houston minute.
The Bernie Madoff Wall Street securities fraud was in a class by itself. The dollar value of this particular Ponzi confidence game was shocking: $68 billion. The duration of Madoff's Ponzi was unbelievable: starting in the 1960s until it finally blew-up with Bernie Madoff's arrest in 2008. All the inflow and outflow for the billions of dollars central to this mega scam was on through a single JPMorgan Chase checking account. Madoff was computer illiterate. He needed help to turn a computer on. The people Madoff hired tended to be moderately educated from lower middle class backgrounds.
One of the many things I learned from this book was that Bernie's mother was listed by the SEC as the owner of a brokerage firm called Gibraltar Securities, with the Madoff's house listed as its address. In 1963, three years after Bernie launched his own securities firm, Gibraltar was caught up in a sweep of forty-eight broker-dealers who had failed to file reports of their financial condition. This is akin to failing to file your personal tax return - only worse.
While reading the scurvy details of Madoff's Ponzi provided by the author, my mind drifted to one of Prince's famous songs, 'Purple Rain'. I looked up the lyrics and indeed they do seem relevant to the consistent post arrest narrative given by the various criminal principals and also some of the witnesses:
I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted one time to see you laughing
I only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
I only wanted to see you bathing in the purple rain
There is zero intended connection between Prince's song 'Purple Rain' and Madoff's Ponzi, though I think 'Purple Rain' could, with a minor amount of imagination, symbolize Madoff's gobs and gobs of really stinky, weird money.
Also, it should be noted that I recommend watching the Mission Impossible meets Inglorious Basterds movie, 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' before reading this Madoff book (published in 2024) for its sultry version of 'Mack the Knife' sung by the winsome and captivating, though seductive actress, Eliza Gonzalez at a costume party rigged to distract a large group of Nazi officers at a Nigerian island port. You know, the song's lyrics: 'steal a little and they throw you in jail; steal a lot and they make you a king. True, after Bernie Madoff's incarceration, at a relatively old age, he did die in prison. Though, read this book and you'll see what I mean about mentioning the relevancy of the 'Mack the Knife' lyrics.
One of the largest corporate fraud cases of the 21st century is Enron, dubbed "America's Most Innovative Company" by Fortune magazine every year from 1996 to 2001. Formed in 1985, the former dot-com supernova made a fortune trading natural gas and other commodities and even rolled out its own digital commodity trading platform in 1999. The Enron scandal resulted in an estimated $74 billion in losses for shareholders; 6) Ivan Boesky; among others.
Since I have a historical connection to Houston, I read one of the Enron scandal books: 'The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron' by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind (first published in 2003). Wow! What a fraud! These criminal corporate executives were very dissimilar to an out-of-work thief holding up a convenience store using a steak knife to feed his family. These corporate criminals do not look dangerous and their motive is easy to understand - strictly greed. And they suck in third party consulting firms, like accounting firms, to assist their large-scale frauds using promises of top dollar repeat business. Recall that Enron's accounting firm was Arthur Anderson, one of the world's largest. It disintegrated in a New York minute or should I say a Houston minute.
The Bernie Madoff Wall Street securities fraud was in a class by itself. The dollar value of this particular Ponzi confidence game was shocking: $68 billion. The duration of Madoff's Ponzi was unbelievable: starting in the 1960s until it finally blew-up with Bernie Madoff's arrest in 2008. All the inflow and outflow for the billions of dollars central to this mega scam was on through a single JPMorgan Chase checking account. Madoff was computer illiterate. He needed help to turn a computer on. The people Madoff hired tended to be moderately educated from lower middle class backgrounds.
One of the many things I learned from this book was that Bernie's mother was listed by the SEC as the owner of a brokerage firm called Gibraltar Securities, with the Madoff's house listed as its address. In 1963, three years after Bernie launched his own securities firm, Gibraltar was caught up in a sweep of forty-eight broker-dealers who had failed to file reports of their financial condition. This is akin to failing to file your personal tax return - only worse.
While reading the scurvy details of Madoff's Ponzi provided by the author, my mind drifted to one of Prince's famous songs, 'Purple Rain'. I looked up the lyrics and indeed they do seem relevant to the consistent post arrest narrative given by the various criminal principals and also some of the witnesses:
I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted one time to see you laughing
I only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
I only wanted to see you bathing in the purple rain
There is zero intended connection between Prince's song 'Purple Rain' and Madoff's Ponzi, though I think 'Purple Rain' could, with a minor amount of imagination, symbolize Madoff's gobs and gobs of really stinky, weird money.
Also, it should be noted that I recommend watching the Mission Impossible meets Inglorious Basterds movie, 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' before reading this Madoff book (published in 2024) for its sultry version of 'Mack the Knife' sung by the winsome and captivating, though seductive actress, Eliza Gonzalez at a costume party rigged to distract a large group of Nazi officers at a Nigerian island port. You know, the song's lyrics: 'steal a little and they throw you in jail; steal a lot and they make you a king. True, after Bernie Madoff's incarceration, at a relatively old age, he did die in prison. Though, read this book and you'll see what I mean about mentioning the relevancy of the 'Mack the Knife' lyrics.
July 18, 2024
First time I heard of Madoff years ago, I was starting out in banking, it sounded like a scene from an sci-fi play, bankers after Madoff made sure every new banker knew the story, years later I would watch a Netflix documentary about Madoff but even that documentary wasn't good enough, alot was missing.
This book is unique because the author isn't just collating responses, it's based almost entirely on his own personal investigations and interviews of the Ponzi scheme, a dozen years worth of investigation coupled with a close personal connection to the perpetrators of the Ponzi, the insights were good. Of particular note was the investigation into the psychological state of B. Madoff himself I got more than just a few lessons in Psychology 101 there.
I know from my past reading of Madoff that a lot wasn't covered about the scam here but I doubt it will be possible to comb through the scheme in its entirety not to talk of one work with all that gory details.
I recommend it mostly for people who have a backstory to the Madoff Ponzi I don't believe it develops well for someone who isn't yet acquainted with the story of the Ponzi.
This book is unique because the author isn't just collating responses, it's based almost entirely on his own personal investigations and interviews of the Ponzi scheme, a dozen years worth of investigation coupled with a close personal connection to the perpetrators of the Ponzi, the insights were good. Of particular note was the investigation into the psychological state of B. Madoff himself I got more than just a few lessons in Psychology 101 there.
I know from my past reading of Madoff that a lot wasn't covered about the scam here but I doubt it will be possible to comb through the scheme in its entirety not to talk of one work with all that gory details.
I recommend it mostly for people who have a backstory to the Madoff Ponzi I don't believe it develops well for someone who isn't yet acquainted with the story of the Ponzi.
June 19, 2025
I picked up this book with the best of intentions. Although I consider myself very well educated having graduated from one of America’s best colleges in 1978 and retired from a very successful business career at 59 I had never heard of Richard Behar. I came to know him rather quickly in his book . Can you imagine someone so pompous and ignorant as to alienate over half the country (I guess the part that he thinks can’t read ) before the first chapter?! On page XVIII the leftist fool stated he believed Bernie Madoff rather than Donald Trump . The fact is , Donald J Trump is the most investigated man on planet earth. Even the great Bob Mueller could not find anything on him ; zero , nada, zilch . The FBI ,under the fascist Democrats , have looked under every rock ; including his wife’s underwear draw and found nothing. Oh the hatred this man, Behar must feel in his heart. I can imagine the pompous ass Behar finishing his book that he spent 15 years researching and saying I just have to take a gratuitous shot at Donald J Trump . I am sure this was when Behar’s guy Joe Biden was President and Richard of course thought Joe was sharp as a tack , brilliant and could control a room like no other man alive . Behar no doubt thought Joe would be our 47th President. Then as it turned out ,shortly after Behar’s book was published , Joe tried to speak at the June 2024 debate. A funny thing happened Richard ; Joe could not speak! He could not formulate a sentence. He was an empty vessel foisted on the American people by Leftists like yourself everywhere . Then lo and behold Donald J Trump became our 47th president. In a modern day landslide. Enjoy it Richard ! Nonetheless despite this stunning revelation, I am an open minded guy , I tried to struggle through it . Finally at page 210 I could stand it no more and took the reader’s privilege to call it a day and not waste my time anymore on the trash that Richard was writing.
Before finishing I must add that only a hateful and evil
man like Mr. Behar could make Bernie Madoff seem like a better person than himself. Which Bernie is !
#1 . Mr. Behar demonizes and slanders Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel . You read that correctly. He demonizes and slanders Eli Wiesel.
#2. He also demonizes and slanders Christians in the worst possible way.Here is quote from the book “it tuned out that artist Andres Serrano creator of the infamous Piss Christ , a work that flustered many delicate types back in the 80’s - did not want to own a shoe worn by a man named Bernie Madoff . “ In case you are wondering Piss Christ is the crucifix in … you guessed it Piss ! What kind of man calls people who are offended by that “delicate types” . I will answer my own question. A very evil man does that. Such a stunning statement of hatred from Mr. Behar ; DELICATE TYPES! Yes the hateful Mr. Behar did the impossible in this book he made Bernie Madoff seem like a nice guy in comparison to him .
Before finishing I must add that only a hateful and evil
man like Mr. Behar could make Bernie Madoff seem like a better person than himself. Which Bernie is !
#1 . Mr. Behar demonizes and slanders Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel . You read that correctly. He demonizes and slanders Eli Wiesel.
#2. He also demonizes and slanders Christians in the worst possible way.Here is quote from the book “it tuned out that artist Andres Serrano creator of the infamous Piss Christ , a work that flustered many delicate types back in the 80’s - did not want to own a shoe worn by a man named Bernie Madoff . “ In case you are wondering Piss Christ is the crucifix in … you guessed it Piss ! What kind of man calls people who are offended by that “delicate types” . I will answer my own question. A very evil man does that. Such a stunning statement of hatred from Mr. Behar ; DELICATE TYPES! Yes the hateful Mr. Behar did the impossible in this book he made Bernie Madoff seem like a nice guy in comparison to him .
November 8, 2025
This is a very well put-together, enjoyable, and credible book and I don’t understand why it seems to have so little uptake.
I gave up on another book, Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff, because that author spent far too much time thrashing about in the stories of various ancillary characters. This is an understandable mode of failure, considering a scam that went on for decades and involved many people, to varying degrees. Somehow, Behar treads the same ground, but pulls it off with an incredibly readable final product.
In the audiobook version which was my experience, each chapter featured a bit of telephone conversation between the author and Madoff, the latter speaking from prison. (Every couple of minutes there is an automated voice that says “this call is being made from a federal prison”.) If nothing else, this device helps one to keep from getting lost in the weeds, but in truth there are few weeds to get lost in.
That this is so is somewhat remarkable, given that considerable mystery and unresolved topics continue to swirl around history’s largest financial fraud. For instance, Bernie went to his grave insisting that the fraud “only started in the 1990s”. Madoff’s self-serving story is that he just fell into it in order to keep friends from losing money on legitimate trades. Behar’s belief is that Madoff was crooked from the very beginning, and that the Ponzi scheme really started in the early 1960s.
Madoff’s story is self-serving because, were it true, then his wife Ruth and his sons would be entitled to millions of dollars of assets acquired in the 1980s. He accidentally (it seems) copped to the fraud being much older during an FBI interview captured on a “302” record. Later, he consistently denied the veracity of that record. The smoking gun lies in records from the 70s and 80s involving partial shares; the records show clients receiving partial-share amounts, which by definition need to be in cash, in advance of the actual trade dates. In deposition, Madoff is also exposed as someone who does not even know the definition of “partial share” – a really inconceivable flub from someone who presented himself as a financial genius, albeit a confessed criminal one.
Those recorded phone calls reveal a highly skilled liar and manipulator. It’s easy to spot the “tells” when you know he’s crooked, but not knowing that, and also not knowing anything about the real world of financial trading myself, his babbling about money matters could be very convincing. Here he is, speaking with a senior manager of an investment fund, whose goal was to understand Madoff’s investment strategy (arguably something he ought to have done before, not after, transferring billions to Madoff).
This is supposed to be informative to a client (FGG) with seven billion dollars of client money invested with Madoff? It’s drivel. Any document he ever produced that purported to explain his trading strategy was also exposed as drivel, particularly when reviewed by truly competent money managers.
Which brings up a major takeaway I have from this book: while many look at this whole affair as a massive regulatory failure on the part of the SEC, the SEC’s role isn’t to go around looking for bad guys. “If you see something, say something.” Years before Madoff’s arrest, lots of senior leaders in the financial world knew Madoff was crooked. One of them had a stock response, when “he’s either selling dope, or he’s front running.” (Front running is, basically, insider trading, and is illegal). Behar quotes one senior leader as saying “we all knew.”
They knew, in other words, that Madoff was a crook. They didn’t necessarily know that he was running a Ponzi, merely moving customer’s money around, and presenting customers with statements of profitable trades that simply never happened.
Had a senior Wall St leader contacted the SEC with substantive concerns, the SEC would have had reason to dig deeper. Behar largely dismisses the 2000 complaint by Harry Markopolos, truthfully pointing out that Markopolos was a putative competitor. Looking on Wikipedia about what Markopolos wrote, however, makes me think Behar has too easily dismissed this thread.
Behar covers the trial of “the Madoff five” in good depth; my takeaway is, there is practically no doubt as to their having known they were participating in a fraud, in a criminal conspiracy. They knew, and benefited handsomely. Disturbingly, they received light prison terms in the range of less than ten years, although these were coupled with forfeitures of billions of dollars; the author does not make clear the practical implication of this.
I would counsel prospective readers to go read the Wikipedia entry on the “Madoff investment scandal” before undertaking the book, as it will help to avoid getting lost in the names. Still, although I floundered at times, in the end I felt I had a grasp of the whole landscape of the scheme. And, it was an enjoyable read: well structured, well paced, and with colorful anecdotes deployed in just the right way.
I gave up on another book, Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff, because that author spent far too much time thrashing about in the stories of various ancillary characters. This is an understandable mode of failure, considering a scam that went on for decades and involved many people, to varying degrees. Somehow, Behar treads the same ground, but pulls it off with an incredibly readable final product.
In the audiobook version which was my experience, each chapter featured a bit of telephone conversation between the author and Madoff, the latter speaking from prison. (Every couple of minutes there is an automated voice that says “this call is being made from a federal prison”.) If nothing else, this device helps one to keep from getting lost in the weeds, but in truth there are few weeds to get lost in.
That this is so is somewhat remarkable, given that considerable mystery and unresolved topics continue to swirl around history’s largest financial fraud. For instance, Bernie went to his grave insisting that the fraud “only started in the 1990s”. Madoff’s self-serving story is that he just fell into it in order to keep friends from losing money on legitimate trades. Behar’s belief is that Madoff was crooked from the very beginning, and that the Ponzi scheme really started in the early 1960s.
Madoff’s story is self-serving because, were it true, then his wife Ruth and his sons would be entitled to millions of dollars of assets acquired in the 1980s. He accidentally (it seems) copped to the fraud being much older during an FBI interview captured on a “302” record. Later, he consistently denied the veracity of that record. The smoking gun lies in records from the 70s and 80s involving partial shares; the records show clients receiving partial-share amounts, which by definition need to be in cash, in advance of the actual trade dates. In deposition, Madoff is also exposed as someone who does not even know the definition of “partial share” – a really inconceivable flub from someone who presented himself as a financial genius, albeit a confessed criminal one.
Those recorded phone calls reveal a highly skilled liar and manipulator. It’s easy to spot the “tells” when you know he’s crooked, but not knowing that, and also not knowing anything about the real world of financial trading myself, his babbling about money matters could be very convincing. Here he is, speaking with a senior manager of an investment fund, whose goal was to understand Madoff’s investment strategy (arguably something he ought to have done before, not after, transferring billions to Madoff).
I doubt they [the SEC examiners] will get into that, but you never know with these guys, so it’s basically that, you know, that Madoff uses whatever the last amount that he liquidated for the fund, and that’s the new amount that he would invest, unless money is brought in and taken out and then that’s … we get a phone call from the investment manager and change the allocation. The best thing is not to get involved with written instructions, if possible, because any time you say you have something in writing, they (the SEC) ask for it.
This is supposed to be informative to a client (FGG) with seven billion dollars of client money invested with Madoff? It’s drivel. Any document he ever produced that purported to explain his trading strategy was also exposed as drivel, particularly when reviewed by truly competent money managers.
Which brings up a major takeaway I have from this book: while many look at this whole affair as a massive regulatory failure on the part of the SEC, the SEC’s role isn’t to go around looking for bad guys. “If you see something, say something.” Years before Madoff’s arrest, lots of senior leaders in the financial world knew Madoff was crooked. One of them had a stock response, when “he’s either selling dope, or he’s front running.” (Front running is, basically, insider trading, and is illegal). Behar quotes one senior leader as saying “we all knew.”
They knew, in other words, that Madoff was a crook. They didn’t necessarily know that he was running a Ponzi, merely moving customer’s money around, and presenting customers with statements of profitable trades that simply never happened.
Had a senior Wall St leader contacted the SEC with substantive concerns, the SEC would have had reason to dig deeper. Behar largely dismisses the 2000 complaint by Harry Markopolos, truthfully pointing out that Markopolos was a putative competitor. Looking on Wikipedia about what Markopolos wrote, however, makes me think Behar has too easily dismissed this thread.
Behar covers the trial of “the Madoff five” in good depth; my takeaway is, there is practically no doubt as to their having known they were participating in a fraud, in a criminal conspiracy. They knew, and benefited handsomely. Disturbingly, they received light prison terms in the range of less than ten years, although these were coupled with forfeitures of billions of dollars; the author does not make clear the practical implication of this.
I would counsel prospective readers to go read the Wikipedia entry on the “Madoff investment scandal” before undertaking the book, as it will help to avoid getting lost in the names. Still, although I floundered at times, in the end I felt I had a grasp of the whole landscape of the scheme. And, it was an enjoyable read: well structured, well paced, and with colorful anecdotes deployed in just the right way.
December 24, 2024
Too long. He is a liar that was able to leverage his ill gotten gains to keep the Ponzi scheme going far longer than it should have. However, this book gives him credibility by beating the dead horse far more than necessary. This also shows how asleep at the switch the regulators were. At this point we should have software that can flag positive gains that are statistical outliers to allow for finite resource allocation. Yes, in the financial world, we should profile the unicorns. If they are simply good: e.g. Simons, Buffet, they will survive the audit. If they are an individual without a working knowledge of finance, that will become readily apparent.
Not recommended, there are no worthwhile insights.
Not recommended, there are no worthwhile insights.
April 13, 2025
I think I have read too many books on this subject. I lost interest, but gave it 4 stars as the author seemed to have organized it well for a reader new to this subject. The courtroom/attorney sections were new and interesting, but I skimmed thru it out of boredom and desire to read other books. My question was how do middle class, mostly educated employees do fraud for such a long time? How do they lie and backdate? How do they certify accounting documents? How do they sleep at night? I got my answers.
August 18, 2024
Somewhat unsatisfying portrayal given that one learns very little about motivation of Madoff besides what one would assume going into it (i.e., the guy was a sociopathic crook). The audio version has the innovative use of the prison recordings, but started skipping those as they were equally unelucidating.
March 23, 2025
An ok book. I felt like the author rambled and inserted himself too much into the story.
A very strong case is made the Bernie’s fraud started in the 1960s and that his family was complicit. The human of greed on Wall Street saddens and frightens me.
A very strong case is made the Bernie’s fraud started in the 1960s and that his family was complicit. The human of greed on Wall Street saddens and frightens me.
January 8, 2025
The author's TDS is showing, quite evident and totally inappropriate. With about 95-96% completed, for no reason whatsoever and in a complete non-sequitur, the author starts complaining about DJT's truthfulness. If I wanted his political views, I'd have asked for them.
July 2, 2025
This book is a detailed dive into the Bernie Madoff scheme, but it feels really repetitive. The books seems to go on and on about specific names and people rather than going into any of the specific details I feel I was looking for.
August 9, 2024
Poorly written, and unnecessary. Cool cover though.
January 5, 2025
Pretty boring
February 27, 2025
Couldn’t get into this. Maybe because I already knew the story, but the book itself was pretty boring and redundant. Not a fan but if you’ve never heard of Madoff you might find it more interesting.
June 11, 2025
Meh - boring and repetitive. Seems to have strong empathy for the criminals with the only condemnations being the many TDS related jabs at Trump.
May 3, 2024
My appreciation to Avid Reader Press and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.
I approached this book avidly as it has been in production for many years and I had high hopes. I read the first big book to come out about it, Diana Henriques' "Wizard of Lies" which was very good but left unanswered questions. I also felt that. Henriques was unduly kind to Ruth, the wife.
Behar to his credit does not believe that Ruth was as innocent as has been depicted. However, the book on the whole is disappointing, with little new material. It is rambling and poorly written. It is basically a memoir of his what Behar did to research this book. Behar continually inserts himself into the story in an annoying fashion.
The result is that the book lacks narrative power and is terribly self-indulgent. Frankly it reads like a very long magazine piece and not like a book that has been so long in the making.. It is as if he emptied his notebook, and what we have is less than the sum of his parts. The small amount of new material would have been better for a magazine article, and there is much padding. and much attention to minutiae.
He is excessively nasty to Sheryl Weinstein, Madoff's alleged mistress, who wrote a book on their affair.. He quotes Madoff rejecting her account in a harsh manner, But he does not point out that Ruth Madoff believed Weinstein, and that that was the reason she cut the cord with Madoff. It also struck me as strange that he would quote Madoff attacking Weinstein, given that Behar says repeatedly that Madoff lied to him. It is wrong that he would quote a liar like Madoff attacking his ex-mistress in such a brutal way.
Another author of a competing book he smears is Harry Markopolos. He paints Markopolos in extremely negative terms and says that Markopolos did not provide sufficient information to the SEC to warrant an investigation. That is debatable, and Behar is far too nice to the SEC, which he totally exonerates. What about the two media articles Behar mentions in 2001 that questioned Madoff's returns? Didn't they raise questions at the SEC?
While exonerating the SEC and attacking its critics, he questions whether investors in Madoff's funds were truly victims, which struck me as harsh and unfair.. Yet he confesses he himself didn't even run a check of his own broker for many years, and when he did he found out he was a convicted felon. He is right to slam Wall Street firms but how are they and Madoff's investors less culpable than the SEC? The SEC disciplined people for negligence in dealing with Madoff but Behar lets the SEC off the hook completely.
He ends by discussing Madoff's psyche and mental motivations but sheds little light on this very important aspect.
I approached this book avidly as it has been in production for many years and I had high hopes. I read the first big book to come out about it, Diana Henriques' "Wizard of Lies" which was very good but left unanswered questions. I also felt that. Henriques was unduly kind to Ruth, the wife.
Behar to his credit does not believe that Ruth was as innocent as has been depicted. However, the book on the whole is disappointing, with little new material. It is rambling and poorly written. It is basically a memoir of his what Behar did to research this book. Behar continually inserts himself into the story in an annoying fashion.
The result is that the book lacks narrative power and is terribly self-indulgent. Frankly it reads like a very long magazine piece and not like a book that has been so long in the making.. It is as if he emptied his notebook, and what we have is less than the sum of his parts. The small amount of new material would have been better for a magazine article, and there is much padding. and much attention to minutiae.
He is excessively nasty to Sheryl Weinstein, Madoff's alleged mistress, who wrote a book on their affair.. He quotes Madoff rejecting her account in a harsh manner, But he does not point out that Ruth Madoff believed Weinstein, and that that was the reason she cut the cord with Madoff. It also struck me as strange that he would quote Madoff attacking Weinstein, given that Behar says repeatedly that Madoff lied to him. It is wrong that he would quote a liar like Madoff attacking his ex-mistress in such a brutal way.
Another author of a competing book he smears is Harry Markopolos. He paints Markopolos in extremely negative terms and says that Markopolos did not provide sufficient information to the SEC to warrant an investigation. That is debatable, and Behar is far too nice to the SEC, which he totally exonerates. What about the two media articles Behar mentions in 2001 that questioned Madoff's returns? Didn't they raise questions at the SEC?
While exonerating the SEC and attacking its critics, he questions whether investors in Madoff's funds were truly victims, which struck me as harsh and unfair.. Yet he confesses he himself didn't even run a check of his own broker for many years, and when he did he found out he was a convicted felon. He is right to slam Wall Street firms but how are they and Madoff's investors less culpable than the SEC? The SEC disciplined people for negligence in dealing with Madoff but Behar lets the SEC off the hook completely.
He ends by discussing Madoff's psyche and mental motivations but sheds little light on this very important aspect.
August 8, 2024
Somewhere between 1 and 2 stars. I've been fascinated by the Madoff story and I was looking forward to this book. It made sense that there would be new insights and perspectives 15 years after the scandal broke, and the title made me hope that this book would pull all the strands of the story together.
But no, that didn't happen. The author mentions numerous times that he spent more than a decade on the book, and perhaps that was the problem - he couldn't compress his notes into a manageable size? I found the book hard to follow, and way too much paper was wasted on irrelevant things like snippet of courtroom theatrics and interviews with the jurors after the verdict. Do we really care what the jurors thought about the defendants' demeanor in the courtroom?
Here are some of the things that irritated me:
Pages 208-2011 : the amounts of money that the "Madoff five" must forfeit is 115.6, 33.8, 155.2, 19.7 and 19.7 BILLION dollars. The entire scam was described as being 170 billion dollar (about 20 billion in real money, the rest imaginary profits). Should this have been millions, not billions? Either this is a typo, or this could have been explained.
Page 152 : "(... ) Stanley wrote Annette that he needed a $125,000 loss in one of his accounts. This time she came through with a purchase of stock (....) - that was "sold" two days later for a $124, 380 loss, just $120 shy of what he requested."
Uh... 124,380 + 120 = 124,500, not 125,000. Surely this is a silly mistake in a book by a financial reporter?
Throughout the book: a female Austrian banker who funneled clients towards Madoff is constantly referred to as "a grandmother". I would say it's a safe bet that many of the male bankers, entrepreneurs and business managers who were involved in the Madoff scam, were grandfathers, yet they don't get that epithet slapped in front of their name every time they're mentioned.
And this gem, on page 190, about the Bettencourt family (who own the cosmetics brand L'Oreal):
"..they were the archetypal Europeans: clannish, judgy and extremely conservative fiscally"
The book has no list of characters and no index, which is a serious weakness in a non-fiction book with a large cast of characters. Towards the end it became hard to keep track of all the lawyers, judges, FBI agents, involved.
A disappointment.
But no, that didn't happen. The author mentions numerous times that he spent more than a decade on the book, and perhaps that was the problem - he couldn't compress his notes into a manageable size? I found the book hard to follow, and way too much paper was wasted on irrelevant things like snippet of courtroom theatrics and interviews with the jurors after the verdict. Do we really care what the jurors thought about the defendants' demeanor in the courtroom?
Here are some of the things that irritated me:
Pages 208-2011 : the amounts of money that the "Madoff five" must forfeit is 115.6, 33.8, 155.2, 19.7 and 19.7 BILLION dollars. The entire scam was described as being 170 billion dollar (about 20 billion in real money, the rest imaginary profits). Should this have been millions, not billions? Either this is a typo, or this could have been explained.
Page 152 : "(... ) Stanley wrote Annette that he needed a $125,000 loss in one of his accounts. This time she came through with a purchase of stock (....) - that was "sold" two days later for a $124, 380 loss, just $120 shy of what he requested."
Uh... 124,380 + 120 = 124,500, not 125,000. Surely this is a silly mistake in a book by a financial reporter?
Throughout the book: a female Austrian banker who funneled clients towards Madoff is constantly referred to as "a grandmother". I would say it's a safe bet that many of the male bankers, entrepreneurs and business managers who were involved in the Madoff scam, were grandfathers, yet they don't get that epithet slapped in front of their name every time they're mentioned.
And this gem, on page 190, about the Bettencourt family (who own the cosmetics brand L'Oreal):
"..they were the archetypal Europeans: clannish, judgy and extremely conservative fiscally"
The book has no list of characters and no index, which is a serious weakness in a non-fiction book with a large cast of characters. Towards the end it became hard to keep track of all the lawyers, judges, FBI agents, involved.
A disappointment.
August 3, 2024
American investigative journalist Richard Behar contends he has written the final word on the Madoff scam in Madoff: The Final Word. As someone who has followed this astounding, tragic story and found it constantly bewildering and fascinating; I'm not sure there will ever be the final word. So much we still do not know and this narrative does not clarify why he did it. Was he just that arrogant and greedy? Did he have some sort of vendetta? Or did he want to see how long he could get away with it? It's clear Madoff has no real remorse but I found this narrative mostly recycled information. The employees who worked for him on the 17th floor just looked the other way as they had to realize at some point what was going on. JP Morgan Chase pretended to act ignorant and for good reason-the money they were making. His sons and his wife most assuredly knew something was going on as well. There was so much money and no one in the family questioned it? Come on. But equally at fault the people who invested with Madoff. No due diligence, placing all your hard earned money with someone you did not know and did not demand answers, proof etc. Red flags galore. It makes no sense. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.
February 26, 2025
Behar spent over a decade researching and interviewing investigators, victims, accomplices, and even Madoff himself from inside prison. His willingness to wait on the book in order to gain all the information he could is what made the book what it is. It was a great read that was hard to put down. Every chapter and page seemed to unearth something else hidden behind Madoff’s web of lies. Towards the very end of the book, I believe Behar let his political ties detract from what he spent so much time and effort making. It seemingly becomes, almost an obsession, that he convinces the readers that Donald Trump and Bernie Madoff are one and the same. He works hard to paint Trump in the same image as Bernie and even goes so far as to compare Trump’s supporters to the investors who invested with Bernie despite his fraud, simply so they could help themselves. In my opinion, this would’ve been a 6-star book had he refrained from putting his political beliefs into a book that has nothing to do with politics. That aside, it was still an amazing read, and regardless of political beliefs, I’d recommend it to anyone. The odds that you don’t learn something are equivalent to the odds that Bernie Madoff’s business dealings were legit. Happy reading!
October 27, 2025
I read a couple books early on in this debacle and this one did a pretty good job of wrapping things up as best it could. Of course there will always be many unanswered questions because they are inside of Madoff and have gone to his grave. Behar spoke rather extensively with Madoff while in prison but as he was what he was he seemed to obfuscate right to the end with Behar as well.
Madoff seemed to want people to think it was of course not really all his fault, he felt considerable pressure from a few that pushed him forward in the scam. He also adamantly claimed that it did not evolve into a Ponzi until much later, however evidence seems to point to it from the start as he really never traded the account.
Finally there is also the blame that one could attribute to the rampant greed of the investor who insisted and demanded they get on on the sure thing. Sure by any intelligent investor that there was something not right about a fund that returned steady and extraordinary profit in the down markets as well. How culpable were they. And the partners in crime primarily Chase Bank who enabled right up to the end. And of course they walk away without a scratch really. They seemed to know nothing after all, of course.
Madoff seemed to want people to think it was of course not really all his fault, he felt considerable pressure from a few that pushed him forward in the scam. He also adamantly claimed that it did not evolve into a Ponzi until much later, however evidence seems to point to it from the start as he really never traded the account.
Finally there is also the blame that one could attribute to the rampant greed of the investor who insisted and demanded they get on on the sure thing. Sure by any intelligent investor that there was something not right about a fund that returned steady and extraordinary profit in the down markets as well. How culpable were they. And the partners in crime primarily Chase Bank who enabled right up to the end. And of course they walk away without a scratch really. They seemed to know nothing after all, of course.
September 16, 2024
Ive been out of the US long enough to have mostly missed the Madoff years - even if the news reached us around the world. So when Behar was interviewed on NPR, I thought I’d check out the book
It’s interesting in that it fails, nobly, to give any insight into Madoff or his family. From the first prison recording of Madoff talking to Behar, I recognised that he’s another Trump, an entitled narcissist who’s been cheating since the day he started, all the while believing he’s smarter than everyone around him. As such, everything he says would be a lie. (Behar himself makes this comparison in the final chapter)
Where the book does give insight is all the rest - how the investors could blindly believe in the funds unbelievable returns, and how the financial community didn’t figure it out decades before. It’s all tied up with our greed and shame around money, and the corruption of Wall Street culture. (My interpretation, not the author).
Not earthshaking but worth the time I spent listening.
It’s interesting in that it fails, nobly, to give any insight into Madoff or his family. From the first prison recording of Madoff talking to Behar, I recognised that he’s another Trump, an entitled narcissist who’s been cheating since the day he started, all the while believing he’s smarter than everyone around him. As such, everything he says would be a lie. (Behar himself makes this comparison in the final chapter)
Where the book does give insight is all the rest - how the investors could blindly believe in the funds unbelievable returns, and how the financial community didn’t figure it out decades before. It’s all tied up with our greed and shame around money, and the corruption of Wall Street culture. (My interpretation, not the author).
Not earthshaking but worth the time I spent listening.
August 20, 2025
I listened to the audio book, which I strongly suggest, since it includes recorded conversation between Madoff and Richard Behar. I found it fascinating to listen how the back and forth conversation between the two went. If there was one point, which stood out in my mind, is that people who claimed to be innocent victims, perhaps got what they deserved. Something that is too good to be true is always too good to be true. They may be smart but they were gullible. I also found it interesting that so many of the family were not tried for fraud. They knew what was going on and participated in the fraud. It is inconceivable that they got off. I found most interesting, the final chapter, where Behar used comparisons outlining how people believe what they want to believe. This goes beyond being gullible. I strongly recommend this book.
February 22, 2025
The author is a journalist who spent 10 or 15 years researching this story and chased down all the information he could find and interviewed many people, including Bernie Madoff in prison several times (and kept up a long correspondence with him. It's a detailed account that gives you plenty of information to decide what you think about "who knew what and when" about this unbelievable scheme. I had previously read a book by the daughter-in-law who was married to Mark, the son who committed suicide two years after the collapse of the Ponzi setup. I needed more information from an outside source and this book provided that. Would recommend as fascinating and frightening reading that makes you a little uneasy about who to trust.
September 7, 2024
How do liars and con men get away with? The short answer is that we let them. The long answer is we may never know. All we know is that they exist and will continue to exist. Richard's book, ten years in the writing, tried vainly to answer this question. We didn't get the answer but, we do get more of the details of the magnitude of a person who spent his entire life lying to everyone he ever knew. Richard gets the details from Bernie, his family, theorical friends, business associates, business competitors, co-conspirators, law enforcement, prosecuting and defense lawyers. You hear from all of them. What they had to say. What they wouldn't say. Enjoy the ride.
December 13, 2024
I listened to the audio book after hearing an interview with the author. The inclusion of recorded convos with Bernie from jail were pretty incredible. The author masterfully weaved so much information about the fraud, the business, the trial and convictions, the complicit banks, and the greed. It was fascinating and humbling to read. My lack of financial knowledge leads to me to feel compassion for those who made investments based on simple trust of Bernie. However, if it's too good to be true, most likely it's not. Money definitely blinds people. Not a book for all, but I enjoyed it. Don't think I could've gotten through reading it though.
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