The document discusses Bernie Madoff, an American fraudster who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Madoff founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960 and became famous in the 1980s for consistently high returns of 10% or more each year. However, in reality he was operating a massive Ponzi scheme from the 1970s until December 11, 2008, when he confessed the scam to his sons. The total losses from the Ponzi scheme were estimated to be $17 billion.