1. Why in your opinion did Bernard Madoff do this? He had been exceedingly successful in the electronic exchange trading that he had started and that his firm continued, and he had clearly achieved both wealth and stature. What was it that drove him, again in your view, “off the cliff”? What does this say about human character? What does this say about the nature and/or culture of the investment community? 

2. Why was it so easy for Bernard Madoff to raise so much money? The case describes a “network of trust and an aura of probity”. How does a person build a network of trust and aura of probity while running a dishonest operation? 

3. The Wall Street Journal (August 20^th, 2009, p. B5) published three articles on the lessons that business schools should teach and business students should take away from the financial meltdown that had occurred. The huge Madoff investment losses were part of that meltdown. What are the lessons that you think are important from the Madoff investment fraud as part of that overall meltdown?

4. What would you have done differently had you been:

a) An advisor to a charitable organization that was investing substantial funds through Madoff.

b) A member of a well-paid feeder fund that was collecting smaller amounts from middle income investors for transfer to Madoff; or 

c) A competitor who had reported to the SEC that the investment model Madoff was using was incapable of generating such large and consistent returns, but seen little or no response?