2 degrees of Bernie Madoff. . .Or how my family lucked out. . . .
We had my parents over for dinner Friday night when I found out something pretty shocking. My dad knew Bernie Madoff. I had overheard bits and pieces of conversations about it over the last couple of months, so at dinner, I just asked him about it point blank. He didn't know him well, but it turned out that one of my dad's girlfriends in high school (my dad was a bit of a player prior to meeting my mom in grad school) was best friends with Madoff's girlfriend, Ruth, who he eventually married, and is still his wife (say what you want about what a bastard the man is and I'll agree with you, but there is at least some redeeming quality in a 70-yr-old man as wealthy as he is who is still married to his high school sweetheart). My dad and his girlfriend and Bernie and Ruth apparently double-dated a few times in high school. My dad said that he remembers him as a really nice guy--a real charmer. I said that that's not surprising, given the nature of the crimes he was able to commit. It's not like he was bank robber. You have to be a charmer to get people to willingly give you their money to invest.
We were trying to explain who Madoff is to my daughter, and I came up with this description, which I'm not sure is true, but I suspect it is: He is a man who stole more money from people than anyone else in the history of the world ever did. That's kind of a mind boggling thought, and I'm not positive it's true, but I suspect it is, and I used the description to help my daughter understand the magnitude of the crimes he committed.
And here's the lucky part: Most of the people Madoff stole from were his friends or friends of friends, or charities of friends of friends. If my dad had actually become friends with Madoff, and they'd stayed in touch over the years, he would've undoubtedly invested with him, and my parents would be broke right now.
Finally, I have to say it. It kills me that Madoff is Jewish. Not only did he steal from numerous Jewish charities, including 90 million from an organization I belong to that funds charitable hospitals and medical research, he also fed enough fuel into the fire of the classic "Jewish moneygrubber" stereotype to keep those flames burning hot for the next thousand years.
We were trying to explain who Madoff is to my daughter, and I came up with this description, which I'm not sure is true, but I suspect it is: He is a man who stole more money from people than anyone else in the history of the world ever did. That's kind of a mind boggling thought, and I'm not positive it's true, but I suspect it is, and I used the description to help my daughter understand the magnitude of the crimes he committed.
And here's the lucky part: Most of the people Madoff stole from were his friends or friends of friends, or charities of friends of friends. If my dad had actually become friends with Madoff, and they'd stayed in touch over the years, he would've undoubtedly invested with him, and my parents would be broke right now.
Finally, I have to say it. It kills me that Madoff is Jewish. Not only did he steal from numerous Jewish charities, including 90 million from an organization I belong to that funds charitable hospitals and medical research, he also fed enough fuel into the fire of the classic "Jewish moneygrubber" stereotype to keep those flames burning hot for the next thousand years.