Page 181 - Think Like a Champion

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DONALD J. TRUMP
hijack a Saudi tanker for ransom—a satirical headline read:‘Somali
Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup.’”
All this and pirates, too. Somehow it helps to know the world
hasn’t changed all that much if pirates are still out there doing their
thing. That’s one take on it. The other take is that vigilance is cer-
tainly necessary in every walk or strait of life—which brings me
to the topic of Bernard Madoff and his scheme that came to our
attention in December of 2008.
I can remember when Bernard Madoff would approach me in
Palm Beach, Florida, about investing some money with him. He’d
say “Why don’t you invest in my fund?” I didn’t know much about
him and I’m not a fund guy so I said no. I had enough going on
in my own businesses that I didn’t need to be associated or in-
volved with his. Madoff was a frequent visitor at my Mar-a-Lago
Club, and he was a respected guy.
I know people who have been victims of his unscrupulous
scheme and what’s happened to them is dreadful. He is without a
doubt a sleazebag and a scoundrel without par. The sad thing is
that so many people trusted him and unfortunately some of them
trusted him completely. Some people gave 100 percent of their
money to this guy, and now they’re literally selling their houses in
order to live. It’s a great lesson in doing your due diligence. Some
very smart people were taken in by him. Just because someone is
well established doesn’t mean they’re not above being a total crook.
He was a Svengali for rich people and he could wipe out hun-
dreds of millions of dollars after just one phone call.
Even the people in his own organization supposedly didn’t
know about it, nor did his sons, he claims. He had several floors in
a major office building. How could one man be manipulating
that much money without at least some of the people knowing
about it? The word here is greed. He certainly “made off” with
some big bucks.

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