Madoff Talks

Uncovering the Untold Story Behind the Most Notorious Ponzi Scheme in History

By: Jim Campbell

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

No name is more synonymous with the evils of Wall Street than Bernie Madoff. Arrested for fraud in 2008 - during the depths of the global financial crisis - the 70-year-old market maker, investment advisor, and former chairman of the NASDAQ had orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in world history, fleecing thousands of investors across the globe to the tune of $65 billion. To this day, questions remain: Why did he do it? How did he get away with it for so long? What did his family know? Who is the elusive Bernie Madoff?

In Madoff Talks, author Jim Campbell presents the most comprehensive insider account of the Madoff saga to date. Based on exclusive interviews with all the players - the Madoff family and their associates, the Wall Street wheelers and dealers, the army of lawyers, analysts, and investigators, the victims of the scheme, and Bernie Madoff himself - the book reveals: what motivated a respected financier to commit such a massive fraud - and why he thought he could get away with it; how Madoff managed to keep the scheme hidden in plain sight - despite numerous SEC investigations; the shocking failures of Wall Street oversight - and how it could happen again; the true scale of the investment losses - and the victims' ongoing fight for justice; and what Ruth Madoff and the rest of the family knew - and how it shattered their lives.

©2021 McGraw Hill (P)2021 McGraw Hill

Really great details

I listened a few times to each chapter only because I wanted better understanding of the Stock market. The details here are very well put together, the writing is fluid and the narrator is perfect. Highly recommend this book.

Pretty good book about a bad guy

It’s a very good story but for some reasons it’s got this repetitive line about Madoff that really could have been edited down a bit. A few other things get repeated a lot as well. Otherwise though it’s a great description of the events

Excellent!!

An excellent history and analysis of the entire Madoff saga, who he was, what he did, how he was caught, and who else was involved. Campbell has a unique perspective as being the only author to speak directly with Madoff himself and members of his family. Campbell takes very complicated financial transactions and not only makes them easily comprehensible to non-financial listeners, but also makes them very interesting. Great narrator as well.

Nicely done

This was a good story for someone who did not have a lot of expertise in the financial world. I found it understandable. It also gave me insight into Bernie Madoff that no other book about this topic has done. I very much enjoyed it.

Learned a lot

Didn’t know much about this story. Hope the system learns something as well however I doubt it

For me, the definitive book

This book (at least my third on Madoff) is definitive as a portrait of the man, and a tour of his business. As other reviewers note, it is very helpful, probably necessary, for the reader to have some financial sophistication, to get its details, and enjoy it. It is not a "page turner" unless you have that perspective.

Once these sorts of characters get busted, there are a few different paths each might take. Enron's Jeff Skilling, after trying very public defiance, lawyered up and kept the fortress mentality, while still cultivating networks for his hoped-for resurrection. His former colleague Andrew Fastow came clean and became a speaker on corporate circuits about how to not fall into what he did. Madoff, finding time on his hands, formulated endless excuses, quite sophisticated but largely transparently false or at least shaky to anyone (like this author) who had the true facts in hand. This book is the only place this stack of excuses was served up. This author paid the dues (both in setting up these interviews, and doing the background research) to pull the whole picture together.

Very thorough

It reads a bit like a financial textbook but that's to its benefit as the economics and finances are as essential to understanding the fraud as are the human elements

A Simply Outstanding Book!

Well written and narrated book. As a former auditor, I appreciate how the Madoff ponzu scheme was simply explained.

Way to technical

Likely the author did a great job with his topic but I was greatly overwhelmed by all the technical mechanics of high finance. I wanted more of the human side of the story.