“During her talk at USC, Henriques delivered fascinating insights about the man behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history and dropped some sage advice to the future journalists.
“You will encounter scoundrels of all sorts in your careers in journalism,” Henriques said, urging the students to be skeptical, “and if your first default position is, ‘this might not be true,’ then you at least stand a chance of leaning into the gale.””
Full article here.
“Mr Madoff seemed unable to say no and risk disappointing those around him, which apparently sparked the fraud in the first place. In an interview from jail, he tells Ms Henriques that he felt burned by investors who withdrew their money after the 1987 crash. They “changed the deal on me,” he said. “I was hung out to dry.””
Complete article here.
“BEFORE beginning to tell the story of the largest Ponzi scheme ever, U.S. business journalist Diana Henriques furnishes her readers with a list of key “characters” — 89 in all. That is thoughtful of her, since it can be difficult to keep track of all the players in The Wizard of Lies, despite how well Henriques relates the tale.”
Full article here.
“Veteran New York Times reporter Diana B. Henriques gives the reader an in-depth, behind-the-scenes picture of the evolution of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme in her book The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust.”
Diana B. Henriques speaks with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness.”
Westwood One’s Jim Bohannon interviews Diana and takes calls from listeners.
Show page here.
This is a raw transcript of a live chat put on by the Reynolds Center. More info here.
Kelly Carr: We’re ready to get started. Thanks again to Diana for joining us! Feel free to submit your questions at any time.
Diana B. Henriques: Hello Robin and All! Sorry it took me a minute to get rolling here. Let’s go.
Comment From John
When you interviewed Bernie Madoff, why didn’t you ask him to substantiate his assertions that some banks were complicit with him by asking him to point to specific evidence for which the Trustee could look?
Diana B. Henriques: I did ask him why he believed the banks were “complicit.” From my first visit with him in August 2010 (at which he raised no such allegation, BTW!) I knew that he had very limited access to records and lawsuits – indeed, to the Internet generally. So no sense asking for what I knew he didn’t have.
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