The $65 Billion Number That Never Existed | Bernie Madoff

On December 10, 2008, Bernie Madoff told his sons that his investment business was "one big lie". His statements showed about $65 billion on paper. Most of it never existed. This is how a trusted name, boring returns and a series of ignored warnings let the largest Ponzi scheme in history run for years, and the one question that would have exposed it. Every fortune has a last day. Chapters: 0:00 One big lie 0:34 The insider 1:04 The returns 1:33 Boring was the product 2:02 The secret strategy 2:42 How it really worked 3:11 The people behind the paper 3:43 The weak point 4:20 Who put their money in 4:58 The man who did the math 5:17 Four warnings 5:49 How the regulator missed it 6:17 The auditor 6:43 December 2008 7:05 No innocent explanation 7:30 How much was real 7:54 What the victims got back 8:20 Who holds your money 9:11 The next story New stories every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Versión en español:    / @asicaenlasfortunas   Sources: SEC press release 2008-293 (Dec 11, 2008); SEC Office of Inspector General, Investigation of Failure of the SEC to Uncover Bernard Madoff's Ponzi Scheme (Aug 31, 2009); court-appointed trustee's website (madofftrustee.com); court records. This video is for educational and historical purposes and is not financial advice. Illustrations and narration produced with AI tools.