First published 2011
Bernie Madoff sits in his federal prison cell, the architect of history's largest Ponzi scheme finally forced to confront the wreckage of his crimes. Award-winning financial reporter Diana Henriques gained unprecedented access to Madoff himself, conducting the first interviews he granted after his arrest. Through extensive correspondence and conversations, she pieces together how Madoff built and sustained his $65 billion fraud over decades. The book draws from Madoff's own words to explain how he deceived investors, regulators, and even his own family. Henriques exposes the mechanics of the scheme that destroyed thousands of lives and shook Wall Street to its core. This account captures not just the financial details of the fraud, but the psychology of the man who perpetrated it. Readers witness Madoff's rationalizations, his methods for maintaining the illusion of success, and his eventual downfall when the 2008 financial crisis made his scheme unsustainable. The book offers an inside look at both the criminal and his crimes.
Genres: biography, business, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, finance, accounting, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Wall Street
Period: 2008 Financial Crisis
520 pages · Kindle Edition · Oneworld Publications