A new work has resolve that Bernie Madoff , the New York financier responsible for defrauding thousands of investor out of some $ 65 billion in the world ’s largest Ponzi scheme , was almost surely a psychopath – recover that the late banker and con artist had a near-100 percentage score charge per unit on established checklist of psychopathological traits .
“ Using two gauges of psychopathy [ … ] on one ( the PM - MRV2 ) Madoff displays all ( 100 pct ) of the characteristic of a embodied psychopath while on the other ( the CAPP ) he scores about 90 percentage , ” reports consider author Clive Boddy , Associate Professor at Anglia Ruskin University and a groundbreaker in the field of corporate psychopathy , in the paper . This " is well within the psychopathological orbit . ”
On the face of it , the result may not be surprising . Over thepast couple of decades , the phrase “ my boss is a psychopath ” has changed from a punchline to a generally admit truism . Studies have placed therate of mental disease in the corporate worldas anywhere between four and21 timesmore predominant than in the general universe ; not only that , but CEO ranks as the profession whichattracts more psychopathsthan any other , withvarious resultssuggesting that the personality case isparticularly suitedto the populace of business .
But the young paper has implications that go further than simply confirming what we already suspected . Just because the corporate world is good for psychopath , does n’t mean that psychopaths are necessarily in effect for the corporate earthly concern : some are “ well - multiply , brought up in a professional environment , physically attractive , verbally facile , has the proper school and contacts , ” cautioned Robert Hare , a forensic psychologist renowned for his expertness in the field of psychology , in a 2016 interview withBC line – but “ once you ’ve got a sociopath inside , they can manipulate , consist , cheat and swindle their way proper to the top . ”
Enter one Bernard Lawrence Madoff . Ever since his arrest in 2008 , his name has been intimately connected with the idea of embodied psychopathy – and now , new research may have try out the recording label correct .
“ People have often wondered whether Bernie Madoff was in fact a corporate psychopath , and he certainly mark highly on the two measures of mental disease utilized within this study , ” Boddy enounce in astatement .
“ The findings suggest that Madoff ’s fraud was an outcome of his personality , ” he corroborate , “ and that like personalities such as Robert Maxwell and Ken Lay , have behaved in standardized ways . ”
Over at least 17 years – and despitemultiple investigationsfrom the SEC – Madoff defrauded one thousand of investors and nonprofit organization worldwide , avoiding suspicion thanks to a veneer of respectability and magic spell .
“ We thought he was God , we trusted everything in his workforce , ” Elie Wiesel , the Holocaust subsister and Nobel laureate whose Foundation for Humanity lose approximately $ 15 million to Madoff ’s cheat , say in 2009 . It was an image carefully curated by the banker over the course of his multi - decade Ponzi scheme : he had a public portfolio that appeared to stick to safe investment and established strategies such assplit - strike conversions . Instead of promising freakish returns on their investments , his clients - gash - dupe received net income that were systematically high-pitched , while still being within the land of plausibility .
Madoff " insists the returns were really nothing especial , ” report theWall Street Journalin a now - infamous interview with Madoff from 1992 . “ afford that the Standard & Poor ’s 500 - stock index generated an middling annual homecoming of 16.3 percent between November 1982 and November 1992 [ … ] ‘ I would be surprised if anybody opine that matching the S&P over 10 years was anything outstanding , ’ he says . ”
In world , Madoff was simply depositing his victims ’ money in a bank accounting and permit it acquire interest . When a client chose to swallow their investments , Madoff would pay using funds from new clients court into the scheme with thattrademark psychopath appealingness .
“ At the end of the day , he [ was ] a financial serial killer , and the intellect I say that is successive killers do n’t have empathy , ” Joe Berlinger , music director of documentaryMadoff : The Monster of Wall Street , toldThe Guardianearlier this year .
“ There ’s no way you could look a widow woman in the eye at the Palm Beach country nightclub and assure them that their life savings will be fine , give me your funds , I ’ll take care of you , and then do that to people , ” he said . “ He ’s somebody who lacks empathy ; therefore ca n’t be ruthful . ”
In other Word of God , a definitive sociopath – and that ’s exactly what the new sketch has confirm . Comparing Madoff ’s actions against two established scales of psychopathy , Boddy find that the tardy moneyman embodied middling much every behavioral trait associated with the personality visibility .
Indeed , his paper explain , Madoff “ owned all the trappings of a hifalutin life style [ … ] characteristic of psychopaths . ” He was power - athirst and self - crucial , while also “ carefully attuned to managing his epitome , down to the diminutive detail [ … ] He also dressed to ingrain and cautiously matched his wedding rings with whatever vintage gold or platinum sentinel he wear on any particular day . ”
He was eventually sentenced to 150 years for the strategy ( a little more than the seven his lawyer to begin with bespeak ) , and perhaps not surprisingly died in prison house . Even while serving time in prison , Madoff ’s ego reportedly remained intact , never showing any remorse for the thousands of victims who recede theirinvestments , homes , and even livesto his scam .
For Boddy , the finding restrain a serious admonition : psychopaths may get in the lead in business , but their recklessness and greed may finally prove more harmful than good for organizations .
“ There are likely to be plenty of people in the world of collective finance with similar psychopathic traits to Bernie Madoff , ” cautioned Boddy . “ The occupation for fiscal bay window and business firm , if they want to give themselves the best chance of avoiding crisis , would appear to be place them before they ascend to power . ”
The study is issue in theInternational Journal of Market Research .
