Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff was an American financier who executed the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding thousands of investors out of tens of billions of dollars over the course of at least 17 years, possibly longer. He was also a pioneer in electronic trading and chair of the Nasdaq in the early 1990s. Madoff began his Wall Street career in the early 1960s as a trader in penny stock. He founded a brokerage firm in 1960, which eventually became Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, where he served as chairman until his arrest by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in December 2008. Madoff promised investors high returns in exchange for their investments. However, rather than investing, he deposited their money into a bank account and paid, upon request, from existing and new investors funds. During the 2008 recession, he could no longer accommodate redemption requests. His scheme came to an end after his sons turned him over to authorities.

Madoffs Ponzi scheme led many to financial ruin and his name became synonymous with financial fraud. He was arrested in 2008 and eventually sentenced to a 150-year prison term in 2009. Madoff died in prison at age 82 on April 14, 2021, while serving his sentence for money laundering, securities fraud, and several other felonies.