From an award-winning journalist, an “accurate and highly readable” account of Bernie Madoff and his massive, devastating financial fraud (The Wall Street Journal).
This is an in-depth, personal look at the architect of the biggest Ponzi scheme in history—and his many victims, from celebrities, corporations, and Palm Beach socialites to everyday people who tragically trusted him with their life savings. Unfolding against the backdrop of the Wall Street collapse that finally brought his crimes to light, the shocking story of the King of the Swindlers reads like a page-turning thriller. But it’s all amazingly, disturbingly true.
“A perfect meld of business details and personalities . . . [Kirtzman] has perfect pitch when it comes to the agony and shame of the Jewish community for finding such a gonif (Yiddish for thief) in its midst.” —Time
“[Kirtzman is] interested in Mr. Madoff himself, in trying to understand how this man could betray so many people, including longtime friends, poor retirees, and charities . . . a novelistic, you-are-there sort of narrative.” —The New York Times
Andrew Kirtzman has written a biography of Rudy Giuliani, covered more than a dozen national political campaigns for print and television, and hosted two of New York's most widely watched public affairs shows. In September 1999, Brill's Content magazine named Kirtzman one of New York's 10 Most Influential Journalists. In 2003, his week-in-review feature "Kirtzman's Column" won an Emmy Award for outstanding political programming.