Come along for a tale of financial shenanigans.  You can find all of our wonderful links on the linktree: https://linktr.ee/allts Bernie Madoff was a financial advisor who ran a massive Ponzi scheme, the largest in history. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent operation that pays returns to investors from funds contributed by new investors rather than from any legitimate investment activity. Madoff's scheme defrauded thousands of investors out of tens of billions of dollars over many years. Here's a summary of what Bernie Madoff did: Created a fake image of success: Madoff cultivated a reputation for being a successful and trustworthy investment advisor. Promised high returns: He enticed investors with promises of consistent, high returns on their investments. Ran a Ponzi scheme: Instead of actually investing the money, he paid out returns to early investors with funds from new investors. Deceived investors for years: The scheme went undetected for decades until the financial crisis of 2008 made it difficult for him to maintain it. Faced consequences: In 2008, his scheme was exposed, and he was arrested. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison for fraud, money laundering, and other crimes.