Madoff was born and raised on Long Island, New York, the elder of Bernard and Ruth Madoff's two sons. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Michigan in 1986,[3] where he had been a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.[4] He married his college girlfriend, Susan Elkin, and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, where they raised two children. They divorced in 2000, and he eventually moved back to Manhattan. In 2003, he married Stephanie Mikesell, with whom he had two children, born in 2006 and 2008.
Madoff joined his father's company in 1987. He and his brother, Andrew Madoff (1966–2014), managed the firm's legitimate market-making and proprietary trading arm.
In December 2008, Mark and his brother confronted their father over his plans to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to employees months ahead of schedule. The elder Madoff then confessed to them that his business was based on a "big lie", a long-running Ponzi scheme that was collapsing under the then-ongoing Great Recession.[5][6] He asked them to give him 24 hours to get his affairs in order before going to the authorities; however, the brothers went to the authorities immediately on the advice of their lawyers. Bernard Madoff was arrested the next day, and Mark never spoke with him again.[2]
While no criminal charges were filed against Mark Madoff, the scandal and its aftermath proved devastating to his personal and professional life. Mark, his mother and his brother were all the subject of constant media attention, with articles speculating that they had been involved in their father's crime, or at least were aware of it. He also found it extremely difficult to find employment.[7]
Death and aftermath
On December 11, 2010, Madoff was found dead in his Manhattan apartment at 158 Mercer Street.[8] Using a dog leash tied to a beam, he hanged himself from the ceiling.[9][2][10] His suicide occurred on the second anniversary of his father's arrest.[7][11]
Madoff's estate amounted to $18.6 million.[4] In 2012, his ex-wife, Susan Elkin, and widow, Stephanie Mack, were sued by Irving Picard, the trustee for his father's swindled clients, under a claim they should have known their wealth was based on crime.[12][13][14] In 2017, the lawsuit concluded, and Mark Madoff's estate was left with $1.75 million.[15][16]
^Madoff Mack, Stephanie (September 19, 2012). "As 'Daddy,' Mark Madoff Lives On". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 5, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2020. Eventually my children will learn about the complex details of their father's family, and that he took his own life. They'll be angry, and they'll grieve in different ways. But, for now, they're young, and I find that in our grief, we end up celebrating our lives together. We have new memories complete with laughter and dancing. And somehow, we have found a peaceful place for Mark in them as well.
^Henriques, Diana B. (September 3, 2014). "Andrew Madoff, Who Told of His Father's Swindle, Dies at 48". The New York Times. p. B19. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2020. The two brothers attracted worldwide attention in December 2008 after they alerted federal agents that their father, a respected Wall Street statesman, had confessed to them that his private investment management business was a vast Ponzi scheme. Based on that report, the senior Mr. Madoff was arrested the next morning, Dec. 11, 2008.
^Henriques, Diana B.; Lattman, Peter (December 16, 2010). "Mark Madoff's Name Became Too Big a Burden to Bear". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Unknown to almost all of his subscribers, that publisher was Mark David Madoff, the older son of the convicted swindler Bernard L. Madoff.
^Ribecca, Carmen (August 23, 2017). "Where are the Madoff sons' wives today?". The List. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2020. Mark's ex-wife, Susan Elkin, was sued for $2.4 million, his widow, Stephanie Mack, for $27.5 million, and Andrew's ex-wife, Deborah Madoff, for $27.7 million.
^Hsu, Tiffany (May 7, 2012). "Madoff's family, daughters-in-law sued for $255.3 million". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020. Irving H. Picard is expanding an existing lawsuit to also include three of Madoff's sons' spouses. The suit claims that the women should have been aware of and reported Madoff's fraud, which bilked investors of $20 billion.
