American Bernie Mardoff, who is now in jail, has an estimated net worth of $800 million. Before his incarceration, his estimated net worth is $17 billion. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market and the mind behind the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He is a former stockbroker, investment advisor, financier and white collar criminal has bilked his clients an approximate of $65 billion and is now three years into a 150-year prison term that he was sentenced on June 29, 2009.

Born Bernard Lawrence Madoff on April 29, 1938 in Queens, New York, he founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960 right after graduating from Hofstra University. It was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street that bypassed “specialist” firms by directly executing orders over the counter from retail brokers. He was the chairman until he was arrested on December 11, 2008. He employed family members in the firm. His brother Peter was the Senior Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer who was sentenced to ten years in prison. Shana Madoff, Peter’s daughter, was the firm’s rules and compliance officer and attorney. His sons Andrew and Mark were also in the company but Mark committed suicide exactly two years after his father’s arrest. They were the ones who told the authorities in December 10, 2008 about their father’s confession that the asset management unit of the firm was a massive Ponzi scheme.

FBI agents arrested Madoff and he was charged with one count of securities fraud. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had previous conducted investigation on his practice yet had not uncovered the massive fraud. He pleaded guilty with 11 federal felonies in March 2009 and he admitted about his business practice turned into fraud. The estimated actual losses to investors conducted by the court-appointed trustee had amounted to $18 billion.