13 Celebrities Scammed by Madoff

Investing money in a “sure thing” is often an opportunity hard to pass as you can see in our list of 13 celebrities scammed by Madoff. As you can certainly figure out from the headline; easy money-making investment opportunities are more often than not too good to be true and certain people have a knack of exploiting rich celebrities’ weaknesses. Bernard Madoff is arguably the best-known of the lot and he is currently serving a sentence of 150 years in prison for conducting the biggest Ponzi scheme America has ever seen. His fraud was a truly large scale one as over $170 billion passed solely through his main account over the years. Compared to that, these 12 scams con artists will use to trick you really look like a child’s play.

Bernard Lawrence Madoff was born on April 29, 1938, in Queens, New York. His early life didn’t suggest the turn of events that were about to unfold as young Bernie never showed too much interest in finances – even though his parents tried to change their own fortunes in the field (unsuccessfully, though). After graduating from Hofstra University, he married his high school sweetheart and decided to open up his own investment firm – Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC. It was an American dream come true for Madoff, but after that fateful year 1960, nothing would ever be the same. Madoff did have a quality life given all the money that he had made, and he was heavily involved in charity. He did, however, cost his clients more than $17 billion in actual investments, and around $65 billion in total debt. Whether Madoff is a modern-day Robin Hood or an inconsiderate fraud – only time will tell. Former investment advisor, stockbroker, financier and even NASDAQ chairman’s life is slowly, but steadily coming to a close, however. Given his advancing years and length of sentence, Madoff will probably never again see the “light of day”.

But, who were the people that he had scammed? Apart from a countless number of individual investors and companies that none of us have ever heard of, Madoff’s Ponzi scheme has robbed plenty of high-profile celebrities of their funds as well. Some of them were in the loop from the very beginnings which certainly helped Madoff build a high-profile portfolio of “customers”. If you haven’t given this matter a thought already, you might be surprised with the names that are about to appear on this list of 13 celebrities scammed by Madoff with no particular order since most people’s losses weren’t disclosed. Here’s a full PDF list of Madoff’s victims as well, if you’re not in a hurry.

13. Eliot Spitzer

It seems that there aren’t many scandals without Eliot Spitzer involved, so his name seems perfect for the start of this list. Former New York Attorney General and Governor of New York has already dealt with investment frauds during his political career, and it’s ironic that he was the one to fall for one such scam. His losses haven’t been disclosed, but they probably feature some form of seven digits. It’s not really “Live by the sword, die by the sword” situation, but it isn’t that far away from the truth as well.

12. Ira Rennert

Ira Leon Rennert might not be a celebrity in a true sense of the word, but American investor and businessman deserves a spot on this list nevertheless. The billionaire is the largest individual loser after no less than around $200 million of his have gone down the drain thanks to Madoff. His current net worth is north of $6 billion, so such a hefty loss didn’t hurt Rennert that much. Still, he has surely felt it.

11. Eric Roth

Eric Roth has earned himself an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump and has been credited for his work on a number of Oscar-nominated films like The Insider, Munich and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Hollywood screenwriter has also lost a substantial amount of money to Bernard Madoff’s schemes, but he hasn’t disclosed the actual figure.

10. Jeffrey Katzenberg

As CEO of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg has been in charge on creations such as Shrek, Madagascar and How to Train Your Dragon franchises. This philanthropist has been involved with Madoff for some time and has suffered severe losses. While his actual losses in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme haven’t been disclosed, it looks like he has lost at least a few millions of dollars.

9. Louis van Gaal

Dutch soccer guru has had a fine career as a player and stellar one as a manager. Later one still lasts, and by the time I am writing these lines, he might be receiving his marching orders off of Old Trafford. His current job as Manchester United manager is under threat, but it’s not the only thing that’s giving him sleepless nights. While being great soccer connoisseur, his business and investment skills seem to be below par. He has reportedly lost €6 million in Madoff’s scam which translates to more than $8 million from December 2008 when Ponzi scheme emerged on the surface.

8. Elie Wiesel

Writer, professor, political activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner – Elie Wiesel has had a turbulent childhood in World War II Europe. He was lucky enough to survive the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. This is why the loss of $15,200,000 have seemed like a grievous injustice dealt to him at the time. Even worse was the fact that the money belonged to his charitable organization, Foundation for Humanity.

7. John Denver

Seventh celebrity thus far on this list of 13 celebrities scammed by Madoff – John Denver hasn’t sung among us for almost couple of decades now, but he didn’t manage to avoid dealing with Bernard Madoff while he still was alive. His actual losses can’t be established that easily at this point, but country boy has certainly lost plenty and he never knew it. Maybe it’s for the better that way, but it certainly can’t be justified.

6. Zsa Zsa Gabor

Even Zsa Zsa Gabor wasn’t spared of Madoff’s fraud as she reportedly lost $10 million in the process. She’s currently closing in on her 99th birthday and, knowing women, will likely outlive good old Bernie just so she could get some kind of satisfaction out of mentioned event.

5. Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick

The celebrity couple has lost an undisclosed sum of money that didn’t exactly jeopardize their existence. While they have given that statement, they have also said that it was still a hard-earned money that was invested in their future. They’ll have to try and get at least some of it back which is a path that most of Madoff’s victims have already taken. This, however, can be both time and nerve-consuming process.

4. Sandy Koufax

Along with Fred Wilpon (New York Mets owner) and a number of other owners from few of American sports franchises – Sandy Koufax represents one of the highest-profile athletes in Madoff’s scam. While Sandy’s pitching days are long gone, pitching itself had never left the player of his caliber. In this instance, however, it was he who had found himself on pitch’s receiving end. Bernie and his associates were the ones who had thrown a sinker, and Dodgers legend was the one who had bitten the bait.

3. John Malkovich

John Malkovich has been one of the most successful Hollywood actors with a career spanning over four decades. With all the money he has earned, it came as no surprise that he decided to invest a portion in order for it to yield benefits in the long run. Unlucky for him, Malkovich has invested in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and it cost him an undisclosed sum.

2. Lary King

One can’t fail but to ask himself: “Would have Larry King retired by now if he hadn’t lost his investment into Madoff’s scam?” We don’t have the answer to that particular question, but Mr. King is still around. His loss of $1 million might not seem like much compared to other celebrity losses in the affair, but it certainly did have an impact on venerable TV personality.

1. Steven Spielberg

If you wished to give credit to Madoff’s scam of the century, the only thing that you had to do was to name some of the people from this list of 13 celebrities scammed by Madoff. Steven Spielberg might be one of the most famous celebrities that have made the list and renowned filmmaker certainly gives good old Bernie plenty of credit. Like it is the case with most of other celebrities, Spielberg’s losses haven’t been disclosed, but judging by his net worth over the years – they haven’t been low, that’s for sure.

List of people and institutions scammed by Bernard Madoff goes on and on. He has deceived a number of world’s banks, pension funds, charity organizations, insurance companies, investment companies, agencies and who knows who else. He didn’t really choose who to rob and who not to as plenty of individuals have also found their way to this undesirable list. Apart from those aforementioned, Madoff has scammed fundraisers, stockbrokers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, world’s elite and many more. Whether the sentence is justified – we aren’t qualified to judge. Some sort of karma did take its place, however, as both of Madoff’s sons have died within 5 years of his sentencing. The question still remains: “Is it worth living 20 or 30 years like a billionaire and spending the rest of your days in prison?” Furthermore, is it worth leaving that kind of a legacy behind you? These are questions that only Bernard Madoff is qualified to answer at this point.