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The Believers: How America Fell for Bernard Madoff's $65 Billion Investment Scam
It was in luxurious Palm Beach, by the manicured lawns and Olympic-sized swimming pool, that financier Bernard Madoff ravaged the world of philanthropy and high society he strove so hard to join; vaporizing the assets of charities, foundations, and individuals that had trusted him with their funds. It seems nothing was sacrosanct to Madoff, possibly the greatest con-man in history—even Elie Wiesel's foundation lost tens of millions. How could Madoff, a pillar of the Jewish community, do this to a Nobel Laureate and Auschwitz survivor? How could some of the most sophisticated and worldly people in America fall victim to a collective delusion for years? To answer these unsettling questions, this book opens up the clubbish world where Madoff operated, tracing the links from Palm Beach and the Hamptons to the clubs of Manhattan society. It details the network of relationships across which flows hundreds of millions of dollars, and shows how despite material success and acclaim, some human impulses remain eternal. It reveals how an underlying sense of insecurity still shapes some of the richest and most successful individuals in America, making them crave ever more status and peer acclaim.
- GenresNonfictionEconomics
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
7 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Adam LeBor
18 books90 followersAdam LeBor was born in London and read Arabic, international history and politics at Leeds University, graduating in 1983, and also studied Arabic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He worked for several British newspapers before becoming a foreign correspondent in 1991. He has reported from thirty countries, including Israel and Palestine, and covered the Yugoslav wars for The Times of London and The Independent. Currently Central Europe correspondent for The Times of London, he also writes for the Sunday Times, The Econdomist, Literary Review, Condé Nast Traveller, the Jewish Chronicle, New Statesman and Harry's Place in Britain, and contributes to The Nation and the New York Times in the States. He is the author of seven books, including the best-selling Hitler's Secret Bankers, which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. His books have been published in nine languages.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 31, 2012
Aspects of the book that intrigued me most and thoughts it triggered:
-LeBor started with a very strong focus on the ties built within the Jewish community, and this theme continued throughout the book. I followed news coverage in 2009 when the scandal broke, but before reading this book, hadn’t realised that Madoff's network of investors was so deeply rooted in cultural and social bonds within the community. Wasn’t quite sure what to make of the assertion that he had a ‘shtarker’ background and was thus fuelled by resentment towards ‘Yekkes.’ Based on the facts presented, it seemed plausible but far from certain.
-How he managed to operate the scheme with the cooperation of relatively few accomplices. The degree of mental juggling required, to live a lie, recruit and defraud investors, deflect investigators, field probing questions, obtain trust and support, and fabricate documents and answers, is absolutely phenomenal. Amazing what can be accomplished for good or bad, given the right tools. His techniques included: building up a cult of personality, maintaining an aura of mystery and wisdom, exploiting loopholes in the financial oversight system and in human psychology, and exuding confidence at critical moments when placed under pressure.
-Instead of simplistically blaming victims for failing to truly understand how their money was being traded, it’s more instructive to examine human thought patterns and figure out why large numbers of people were taken in. Specialisation of jobs and industries is a prominent factor- we hire accountants and hedge fund managers to handle our affairs in the same way that we expect farmers to supply our food. We come to rely on crowd wisdom (or foolishness) instead of our own judgment, because we lack the interest and/or time to acquaint ourselves with details. We rely heavily on authority and reputation, because these are highly correlated with ability and trustworthiness. However, it’s vital to remember that exceptions exist, and that power, authority and social standing are not necessarily proofs of substance. It’s much harder to resist the temptation to ‘take someone’s word for it’ than we realise, because deference to authority and surrendering of faith in the absence of complete understanding is a widely relied-upon form of social bonding. It displays trust, loyalty, and respect for the one who receives it, and yields increased returns if the act of faith is justified- like a tit-for-tat programme that gives others the benefit of the doubt during initial interactions.
-LeBor drew on his familiarity with Milosevic's criminal operations in Serbia, to highlight similarities in the running of Ponzi schemes. That brought in unique insight and established ties to a wider historical perspective that I found highly valuable.
On the whole, this was a compelling read- rather like a riveting book-length gossip magazine article, juicy details to be devoured over the course of one evening. I definitely experienced a sense of mild guilty fascination, and tried to suspend judgment while reading accounts of the lifestyles of some of the characters- attempting to avoid taking an overly ‘us and them’ perspective and rather, to focus on insights that can be derived about human nature. Precarious balance between being charitable and being condescending.
I’m increasingly disinterested in placing blame on specific individuals, and more motivated to understand how humans in general respond under certain circumstances- when faced with temptation, peer pressure, lack of regulation, and competition for limited resources. The moral code and expectations that society imposes on people who have opportunities to engage in, say, insider trading, are clearly unrealistic. When people are faced with the decision to act in their self-interest versus to abide by an externally-imposed set of ethics, we can surely calculate the likelihood of defection- and no one would expect it to be zero. It just seems to me that the system is set up to be gamed, to be cheated- it applies pressures that are contradictory to human nature and do not take people’s motives and behaviour into serious account. Phil Zimbardo's creed, that systems are, to a large degree, responsible and should be held more accountable than 'bad apples,' applies here. There are people who, with a rare combination of skills and defects, inflict widespread damage on society- and we need to recognise that in a given population, a fraction of people will possess these traits.
-At the start of the book, I had the assumption that Madoff was simply sociopathic and incredibly outlying in terms of his ability to swindle friends, family, and charities. By the end, though, after growing acquainted with the gradual process through which he built a house of cards, I started thinking about how, once the game was on, he had little choice but to continue inexorably on, with no way of reversing the process. In the final days before arrest especially, I can't imagine the kind of mental stress he was experiencing. For a human being to endure that kind of pressure- it's terrifying. The worst, most bombastically horrible white-collar nightmare- for real.
The editing could have been tighter- there were places where short, repetitive sentences sounded rather stilted, or where facts were concatenated into paragraphs when they’d have been better presented as bullet point lists. That didn’t interfere with overall readability and getting the message across though. The author took care to include material from the perspective of family members, providing insight into their personal life and evoking sympathy from the reader. While I appreciated this, the transitions between personal and professional narratives were a bit abrupt.
Given the breadth of research covered, it was worth it- pages are packed with information, quotes, and numbers. An additional 5% of effort in editing would have pushed this book into a 4-star rating.
-LeBor started with a very strong focus on the ties built within the Jewish community, and this theme continued throughout the book. I followed news coverage in 2009 when the scandal broke, but before reading this book, hadn’t realised that Madoff's network of investors was so deeply rooted in cultural and social bonds within the community. Wasn’t quite sure what to make of the assertion that he had a ‘shtarker’ background and was thus fuelled by resentment towards ‘Yekkes.’ Based on the facts presented, it seemed plausible but far from certain.
-How he managed to operate the scheme with the cooperation of relatively few accomplices. The degree of mental juggling required, to live a lie, recruit and defraud investors, deflect investigators, field probing questions, obtain trust and support, and fabricate documents and answers, is absolutely phenomenal. Amazing what can be accomplished for good or bad, given the right tools. His techniques included: building up a cult of personality, maintaining an aura of mystery and wisdom, exploiting loopholes in the financial oversight system and in human psychology, and exuding confidence at critical moments when placed under pressure.
-Instead of simplistically blaming victims for failing to truly understand how their money was being traded, it’s more instructive to examine human thought patterns and figure out why large numbers of people were taken in. Specialisation of jobs and industries is a prominent factor- we hire accountants and hedge fund managers to handle our affairs in the same way that we expect farmers to supply our food. We come to rely on crowd wisdom (or foolishness) instead of our own judgment, because we lack the interest and/or time to acquaint ourselves with details. We rely heavily on authority and reputation, because these are highly correlated with ability and trustworthiness. However, it’s vital to remember that exceptions exist, and that power, authority and social standing are not necessarily proofs of substance. It’s much harder to resist the temptation to ‘take someone’s word for it’ than we realise, because deference to authority and surrendering of faith in the absence of complete understanding is a widely relied-upon form of social bonding. It displays trust, loyalty, and respect for the one who receives it, and yields increased returns if the act of faith is justified- like a tit-for-tat programme that gives others the benefit of the doubt during initial interactions.
-LeBor drew on his familiarity with Milosevic's criminal operations in Serbia, to highlight similarities in the running of Ponzi schemes. That brought in unique insight and established ties to a wider historical perspective that I found highly valuable.
On the whole, this was a compelling read- rather like a riveting book-length gossip magazine article, juicy details to be devoured over the course of one evening. I definitely experienced a sense of mild guilty fascination, and tried to suspend judgment while reading accounts of the lifestyles of some of the characters- attempting to avoid taking an overly ‘us and them’ perspective and rather, to focus on insights that can be derived about human nature. Precarious balance between being charitable and being condescending.
I’m increasingly disinterested in placing blame on specific individuals, and more motivated to understand how humans in general respond under certain circumstances- when faced with temptation, peer pressure, lack of regulation, and competition for limited resources. The moral code and expectations that society imposes on people who have opportunities to engage in, say, insider trading, are clearly unrealistic. When people are faced with the decision to act in their self-interest versus to abide by an externally-imposed set of ethics, we can surely calculate the likelihood of defection- and no one would expect it to be zero. It just seems to me that the system is set up to be gamed, to be cheated- it applies pressures that are contradictory to human nature and do not take people’s motives and behaviour into serious account. Phil Zimbardo's creed, that systems are, to a large degree, responsible and should be held more accountable than 'bad apples,' applies here. There are people who, with a rare combination of skills and defects, inflict widespread damage on society- and we need to recognise that in a given population, a fraction of people will possess these traits.
-At the start of the book, I had the assumption that Madoff was simply sociopathic and incredibly outlying in terms of his ability to swindle friends, family, and charities. By the end, though, after growing acquainted with the gradual process through which he built a house of cards, I started thinking about how, once the game was on, he had little choice but to continue inexorably on, with no way of reversing the process. In the final days before arrest especially, I can't imagine the kind of mental stress he was experiencing. For a human being to endure that kind of pressure- it's terrifying. The worst, most bombastically horrible white-collar nightmare- for real.
The editing could have been tighter- there were places where short, repetitive sentences sounded rather stilted, or where facts were concatenated into paragraphs when they’d have been better presented as bullet point lists. That didn’t interfere with overall readability and getting the message across though. The author took care to include material from the perspective of family members, providing insight into their personal life and evoking sympathy from the reader. While I appreciated this, the transitions between personal and professional narratives were a bit abrupt.
Given the breadth of research covered, it was worth it- pages are packed with information, quotes, and numbers. An additional 5% of effort in editing would have pushed this book into a 4-star rating.
Read
February 22, 2023i have read so much about bernie madoff for my accounting (26 pg!) paper that i'm officially sick of him.
February 22, 2023
The book does a good analysis of the causes that allowed this incredible fraud to happen, but, disappointingly, doesn’t give more details than the Netflix four-part documentary series, Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street revealed.
It describes the history of the investment scam and explains why it lasted so long, how he was helped by co-conspirators and by people who preferred not to ask questions as long as they were making money out of the secretive scheme, and how so many were so easily fooled.
Frustratingly, it doesn’t answer some intriguing questions.
He was an intelligent, experienced, and successful trader and he should have known that a Ponzi scheme cannot last indefinitely – did he do it only for the thrill, without care for the obvious consequences for him and for his family?
There were some articles in the press and some rumours about his secretive investment fund.
How come that his sons, his brother, and any of the traders working in his legit company did not seriously query the legality of the operation for which only a handful of people worked in total secrecy a floor below?
It describes the history of the investment scam and explains why it lasted so long, how he was helped by co-conspirators and by people who preferred not to ask questions as long as they were making money out of the secretive scheme, and how so many were so easily fooled.
Frustratingly, it doesn’t answer some intriguing questions.
He was an intelligent, experienced, and successful trader and he should have known that a Ponzi scheme cannot last indefinitely – did he do it only for the thrill, without care for the obvious consequences for him and for his family?
There were some articles in the press and some rumours about his secretive investment fund.
How come that his sons, his brother, and any of the traders working in his legit company did not seriously query the legality of the operation for which only a handful of people worked in total secrecy a floor below?
July 11, 2025
Sorry, but this book didn't sell it for me (i read the Dutch translation). Too superficial, poor structure, even poorly edited. Compared with other biographies (I'm actually reading Siles' "The First Tycoon: Cornelius Van der Bilt") or other Wall Street dramas (Barbarians at the Gate, The Big Short, The Smartest Guys in the Room), this one scored very low for me.
October 5, 2021
Don't believe you will make a supernatural return
It's a decent read. Don't know as I haven't read anything else or think it is the best book on the subject. Nothing the media coverage didn't already have.
It's a decent read. Don't know as I haven't read anything else or think it is the best book on the subject. Nothing the media coverage didn't already have.
April 8, 2026
This book is more like an anthropology of Madoff and his investors. The main focus is put on the psychological elements of the fraud, and the financial details are rather rough and sketchy.
A mildly interesting fact: Madoff himself got defrauded by another Ponzi scam (Black Watch Farms fraud). Ponzi is a dog-eat-dog world.
A mildly interesting fact: Madoff himself got defrauded by another Ponzi scam (Black Watch Farms fraud). Ponzi is a dog-eat-dog world.
March 28, 2018
8,5/10
Who the f*ck is Bernard Madoff??? Die vraag zou ik me een jaar geleden ook gesteld hebben. Tot ik in 2017 "Daar komen de vliegen" las van David Pefko. Deze pageturner die losjes gebaseerd is op het leven van Bernard Madoff vond ik zo goed dat ik het echte verhaal achter deze man wel eens wou lezen. Een boek - al is het fictie of een stripverhaal - dat mijn interesse wekt voor iets dat of iemand die ik nog niet ken, scoort altijd hoger. Toen ik deze biografie in de kringloopwinkel kon kopen voor 1€, twijfelde ik geen seconde. Het bleek een fascinerend verhaal dat bewijst dat de realiteit soms fictie ver overtreft. Madoff werd de meest gehate man in New York en omstreken omdat hij honderden mensen (vooral Joden zoals hijzelf) had opgelicht voor een geschat bedrag van 65 miljard dollar. Een verhaal over hoe hebzuchtige mensen in een kapitalistische wereld alsmaar hebzuchtiger worden en plots alles kwijt zijn en de schuld op een ander steken. Fascinerend dus...
Who the f*ck is Bernard Madoff??? Die vraag zou ik me een jaar geleden ook gesteld hebben. Tot ik in 2017 "Daar komen de vliegen" las van David Pefko. Deze pageturner die losjes gebaseerd is op het leven van Bernard Madoff vond ik zo goed dat ik het echte verhaal achter deze man wel eens wou lezen. Een boek - al is het fictie of een stripverhaal - dat mijn interesse wekt voor iets dat of iemand die ik nog niet ken, scoort altijd hoger. Toen ik deze biografie in de kringloopwinkel kon kopen voor 1€, twijfelde ik geen seconde. Het bleek een fascinerend verhaal dat bewijst dat de realiteit soms fictie ver overtreft. Madoff werd de meest gehate man in New York en omstreken omdat hij honderden mensen (vooral Joden zoals hijzelf) had opgelicht voor een geschat bedrag van 65 miljard dollar. Een verhaal over hoe hebzuchtige mensen in een kapitalistische wereld alsmaar hebzuchtiger worden en plots alles kwijt zijn en de schuld op een ander steken. Fascinerend dus...
August 26, 2011
バーナード・マドフ事件は日本ではあまり知られていない。これは神格化されたナスダックの創始者による史上最大の詐欺事件で、投資を募り、集めた新規顧客の資金を既存顧客の利益に補填するいわゆるネズミ講詐欺だ。総被害額は約６兆円、生き馬の目を抜くウォール街の猛者、知識層・富裕層のユダヤ人、世界中の金融機関・・・最も用心深い彼らが揃いも揃って騙されたのは何故か。この本には人間の限りない欲望がもたらした悲惨な結末が克明に書かれている。本書の教訓は決してヘッジファンド・アクティブファンドの否定ではなく、結局投資は自己責任で、理解できない金融商品には手を出さないという当たり前の結論に辿り着く。くわばらくわばら。
February 26, 2015
shows how people believe anything that sounds good,
also shows how to make masses fall for something, convince few people they will convince others and so on, without anyone knowing that it is a scam
also shows how to make masses fall for something, convince few people they will convince others and so on, without anyone knowing that it is a scam
September 3, 2021
Geeft een verhelderende blik achter de schermen en laat je met een wrang gevoel achter van hoe kon dit gebeuren ?
June 11, 2018
Chciwy traci dwa razy.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews