In 1960, Bernie Madoff started a brokerage with $5,000 from lifeguarding — by 1999 his fake books showed $7.1 billion under management.

He served as NASDAQ Chairman three times while Frank DiPascali fabricated thousands of trades daily on a hidden floor of the Lipstick Building.

In 1992, the SEC knocked on the door, Madoff wired $440 million overnight to make them go away, and regulators closed the case with zero charges.

This is Chapter 1 of the largest fraud in financial history — before anyone was listening.

🎧 Part of the Sleepy Stock Market series — financial history told as documentary audio.SLEEPY STOCK MARKETFall asleep to the greatest stories in financial history.

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