In the meantime, another, far less-known Italian (at the time) by the name of Mario was studying to become a plumber. And for a while, he made good money fixing literal pipes in people's homes. Of course, he had a tragic trajectory of his own...he became addicted to magic mushrooms and was eventually found guilty of animal cruelty after stomping on dozens of turtles.
By the way, I watched the "MADOFF" Netflix documentary not so long ago. Can recommend. It sheds light on quite a few failures of government institutions tasked with keeping things in check to prevent exactly the kind of schemes Bernie Madoff had going on.
I agree, although I do think there are a few folks legitimately good at providing advice on how to grow a following, even a paid one... but first, they're one in a hundred, and second, I think most writers vastly overestimate the pool of money available to them and their peers.
In Nigeria, a con man called Fred Ajudua studied the French con, Victor Ludwig, very closely. Just as Ludwig tried to sell the Effel Tower, Ajudua tried to sell Nigeria's National Theatre. Ajudua pulled so many deals, only for some crazy reason,he didn't end up in jail as long as Bernie Madoff would. Ajudua con tricks were legendary, so legendary that he inspired another group of con men to wreck a Brazilian bank, swindling it of hundreds of millions of dollars.
"He had a real knack for selling pipe dreams!"
In the meantime, another, far less-known Italian (at the time) by the name of Mario was studying to become a plumber. And for a while, he made good money fixing literal pipes in people's homes. Of course, he had a tragic trajectory of his own...he became addicted to magic mushrooms and was eventually found guilty of animal cruelty after stomping on dozens of turtles.
By the way, I watched the "MADOFF" Netflix documentary not so long ago. Can recommend. It sheds light on quite a few failures of government institutions tasked with keeping things in check to prevent exactly the kind of schemes Bernie Madoff had going on.
I'm pretty sure I watched that doc, and also enjoyed it. Is "enjoyed" right? I'm not sure, but it was good.
Modern Ponzi Scheme: people that make money on Substack, by getting paid by Substack writers for advice to follow and share other Substack writers.
I agree, although I do think there are a few folks legitimately good at providing advice on how to grow a following, even a paid one... but first, they're one in a hundred, and second, I think most writers vastly overestimate the pool of money available to them and their peers.
In Nigeria, a con man called Fred Ajudua studied the French con, Victor Ludwig, very closely. Just as Ludwig tried to sell the Effel Tower, Ajudua tried to sell Nigeria's National Theatre. Ajudua pulled so many deals, only for some crazy reason,he didn't end up in jail as long as Bernie Madoff would. Ajudua con tricks were legendary, so legendary that he inspired another group of con men to wreck a Brazilian bank, swindling it of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Whoa! That sounds like a really interesting story.
I always enjoy stories of fraud. It feels like we make the world just a little better whenever we share these tales.
So many people never took the time to understand crypto and where the "sweet, sweet yield" was coming from.
Great article.
Thanks, Ryan! Some lessons may never be learned.