Bernard Lawrence Madoff (/ˈmeɪdɔːf/;[1] born April 29, 1938) is an American former market maker, investment advisor, financier and convicted fraudster who is currently serving a federal prison sentence for offenses related to a massive Ponzi scheme.[2] He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market,[3] the confessed operator of the largest Ponzi scheme in world history, and the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.[4] Prosecutors estimated the fraud to be worth $64.8 billion based on the amounts in the accounts of Madoff’s 4,800 clients as of November 30, 2008.[5]
Madoff founded a penny stock brokerage in 1960 which eventually grew into Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. He served as its chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008.[6][7] The firm was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street,[8] which bypassed “specialist” firms by directly executing orders over the counter from retail brokers.[9]
