Madoff’s Secret Life

The Wall Street Journal’s feature on Bernard Madoff, whose alleged Ponzi scheme cost investors billions, paints him as ultra-secretive, almost aloof—“like a pop star,” according to one banker. One of Madoff’s Florida agents reportedly had only “8 or 10 brief meetings” with Madoff over a period of 15 years. Madoff would take the occasional meeting on the golf course but mostly refused to talk business in public. He likewise snubbed charity balls in Palm Beach. He was the ultimate outsider, once saying aloud he wished he’d gone to Wharton or Stanford. “[H]e’s actually fairly quiet and almost uncomfortable around other people,” said one of Madoff’s agents.