How Madoff did it? Cake futures.

So by now, everyone knows about Bernie Madoff, the most successful con man in history. His Ponzi 1the whole ugly truth scheme has left countless investors bankrupt as he stole about $65 billion dollars. Billion.

So just how in the world Madoff made off with all your money? He’s a child and so are we. Here’s the perfect analogy.

The brilliant primer podcast, Planet Money, released a story by one of its producers Josh Bearman, where he relates a story from his childhood. He came up with a funny scheme in the lunchroom to acquire treats from his classmates by trading for a stake in future cake. But I can’t retell it as well, have a listen for yourself.

So here is the analogy breakdown:

story real life
Josh Bearman Bernie Madoff
Josh’s classmates Bernie’s investors
school administration Securities and Exchange Committee

You ask me, Bernie should have been thrown the book a long, long time ago. But then that would have required some regulation.

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Comments

2 responses to “How Madoff did it? Cake futures.”

  1. John Avatar

    I heard it this morning on the drive to work. I was laughing my a$$ off in the car.  What a great analogy!

  2. James Avatar
    James

    Hey, I loved that Ponzi guy from Happy Days!

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