How do you explain Bernie Madoff?

He is a greedy man with no scruples. I don’t think he expected to get caught. He had gotten away with it for years.

High functioning Antisocial Personality Disorder. People with this disorder are also called psychopaths.

The diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis from the DSM IV TR are as follows:

* Persistent lying or stealing
* Superficial charm
* Apparent lack of remorse or empathy; inability to care about hurting others
* Inability to keep jobs or stay in school
* Impulsivity and/or recklessness
* Lack of realistic, long-term goals — an inability or persistent failure to develop and execute long-term plans and goals
* Inability to make or keep friends, or maintain relationships such as marriage
* Poor behavioral controls — expressions of irritability, annoyance, impatience, threats, aggression, and verbal abuse; inadequate control of anger and temper
* Narcissism, elevated self-appraisal or a sense of extreme entitlement
* A persistent agitated or depressed feeling (dysphoria)
* A history of childhood conduct disorders
* Recurring difficulties with the law
* Tendency to violate the boundaries and rights of others
* Substance abuse
* Aggressive, often violent behavior; prone to getting involved in fights
* Inability to tolerate boredom
* Disregard for the safety of self or others
* Persistent attitude of irresponsibility and disregard for social rules, obligations, and norms
* People with a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder often experience difficulties with authority figures.

Of course not all of these criteria apply to every person.

He may have been concerned the first year or so that he would be caught, but I think after that, he was so consumed with greed and cockiness he didn’t worry about it again. I think he felt superior to everyone, friends and law enforcement.

It’s a weird one I’ll give you that. I think it may have been one of those things that just got away from him, maybe he saw a way of making a quick buck (to then make bigger bucks and use some of the proceeds to wind the scheme down in a controlled way) and the whole thing just got out of control and he of course had his reputation to think about. I imagine that at some point he must of been like those Ostriches with his head in the sand.

@Marina – I think you hit the nail on the head. I don’t think he expected to get caught. Wealthy people live on another plane of thought.

Even my boss, Bob Gessert, of The Gessert Group, who stole money from me instead of putting into my 401k, given himself raises while he denied others or fired them, still to this day says he wont apologize for it. He thinks he is money and above certain people and behavior. And he is nothing compared to what Madoff was when it comes to money.

Bernie used to be the chairman of the NASDAQ.

His buddies turned a blind eye.

The SEC is filled with lawyers who know how identify errors on forms. They never have been good at detecting fraud. They believe in “self regulation.”

I suspect like many of those who have a lot of money and power he thought he was invincible. Of course, being a sociopath often results in the same thing. In any case, he is caught now at any rate, but I am sure someone else will turn up doing something else equally puzzling and heinous.

@Bri_L That’s horrible. Are the employees suing him?

@Marina – The second biggest ad agency absorbed his company to gain his client niche and he ended up paying fines. No lawsuits that I am aware of. He doubled my retirement money but did far far worse in his other actions.

@pdworkin about three of those somewhat apply to me, should I be worried?

Absolutely not. We all have certain features of the diagnostic criteria of every personality disorder. A personality disorder is a long-term fixed set of behaviors that cause the sufferer extreme distress in life. Sociopaths often end up, as Bernie did, in jail or in other restrictive institutions. You are no doubt normative, just like the rest of us.

Students in the field when they are first exposed to the DSM tend to diagnose themselves, and are warned not to by their professors. Don’t worry even for a moment.

It was too much greed even for greed. Instead I think it was a game. It was about calculating and strategizing, making moves and taking risks and getting away with it. The money was points, the clients were playing pieces. None of it was real people’s lives.

James Bond Villain.

Just a corruptible man who was corrupted by a corruptible system.
It doesn’t make him bad.
Weak perhaps, in some ways, but not bad.
He wouldn’t have been as successful as he was without those who made him so.

GREED.