Swindler's List

December 17, 2008 | 3:51 pm

What Madoff investments reveal about Hollywood Jews

Posted by Danielle Berrin

Photo

As financial losses resulting from the Madoff scheme continue to bleed throughout the country, two things have become clear: Jewish investors are acutely affected, and a few of them hail from Hollywood.

First we heard about Spielberg, then Katzenberg, then their longtime business manager Gerald Breslauer, who recommended investing with Madoff. Earlier today, the LA Times reported that screenwriter Eric Roth, who last week was nominated for a Golden Globe for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” lost his entire retirement savings. Those are the first few to fall, but the way this Ponzi pyramid is breaking down, there will likely be more.

Is it mere coincidence that the Hollywood players ensnared in the scheme are all Jewish?

If they’re from Hollywood, they’re not really Jewish, goes the stereotype. But the Madoff mess actually reveals something contrary to the prevailing belief that there’s nothing substantively Jewish in Hollywood (besides a bunch of Jewish names). It speaks to a foundational common thread, something sacred that is shared amongst members of a close-knit community; a community built on trust.

How else can you explain the kind of incestuous financial rings developed and sustained within the Hollywood Jewish community? Spielberg entrusts his net worth to his Jewish business manager; he shares said business manager with friend Jeffrey Katzenberg; and that very same manager trusts their sizable assets to another reputable Jew: Bernard Madoff. It could be argued that the entire entertainment industry operates this way; a tribalistic clan working together, sharing with each other and trusting one another.

What’s more Jewish than that? 

44 CommentsLeave your comment

COMMENTS

We welcome your feedback.

Privacy Policy

Your information will not be shared or sold without your consent. Get all the details.

Might it be said that successfully contriving to hang on to all the creature comforts of home for the duration - while under police arrest and subject to criminal investigation - is a typically “Jewish” trait…???

Comment by Joanna Jay on 12/18/08 at 1:39 am

Iam not surprised at all, where jews establish them self in any giving country,this is what happens.
Look at Spain, England, Germany,and now the greatest country in the world, so it was said, who will be next?

Comment by john balasa on 12/18/08 at 6:34 pm

Kevin MacDonald has done research on Jews and despite all the wailing one will hear and see in print, this “group think”, this unparalleled ethnocentrism and desire to subvert and ruin gentile societies and cultures is genetically based behavior. So is their self-deception, which allows them to rationalize any wrong doing, any subconscious hatred they have of non-Jews. All groups have their plus and minuses, yet no one is allowed to openly discuss the minuses of Jews, as they will then find themselves being called “Nazis” or “anti-Semites”.  I think if Jews could somehow open up and own up to some of their bad behaviors things would not be so bad between Jews and non-Jews. But as long as Jews remain hyper-sensitive and hypocritically ethnocentric beyond any other group on earth the tensions will grow until there is a big blow-up. Then all the “regular” Jews will take the heat while the elitists, the real arrogant racists, will just step out of the picture for awhile. They need to admit they practice nepotism, look down on all others, scheme with their fellow Jews to subvert non-Jews (of course they don’t see it that way) and more. Instead of always going around and pointing the finger at everyone else. I never really paid much attention to Jews until I was the victim of intellectual theft - twice - each time by Jews and then I looked into Immigration Law in the US when I saw what was going on around the country. Once I read the history of the Immigration Act of 1965 it became plain as day that there is indeed a hard-core element of the Jewish community that absolutely hates whites of European extraction. These Jews will blame it on historical Christian oppression of Jews without ever considering that in many cases Jewish behavior, much like we see in Hollywood and from all guys like Madoff, Milken, and more was behind a lot of the fighting between Jews and non-Jews throughout European history.

Comment by Roger Calhoun on 12/19/08 at 7:13 pm

“...I was the victim of intellectual theft”

Someone stole your intellect?  Should’nt of left it lying around like that. Well, I would’nt worry about it. It wasn’t like it was a BMW or a Mercedes, and from what I can tell, it would appear that your “intellect” was pretty much on its last legs anyway. Look, stop crying, you can pick up a 1982 Ford Fiesta with a cracked windshield and three wheels just about anywhere.

Comment by Shoded Yam on 12/19/08 at 7:31 pm

Apparently Shoded Yam is out to prove Calhoun’s points.

The self deception may very well be genetic. Word play, childish pil pul to avoid the point in an argument is so typical. Much like those defending Madoff or feigning surprise.

Comment by Amused Bystander on 12/19/08 at 7:42 pm

Avoid what point, Jackass? The regurgitated polemics of some tenured clown with an ax to grind? Thats not a point. It’s the hysterical rantings of a weakling seeking validation for a life spent blaming others for his shortcomings.

Comment by Shoded Yam on 12/19/08 at 8:01 pm

Actually both “complainers” made some interesting points. Shoded needs to realize that criticism is healthy for everyone. The regurgitated and worn out claims that people are “...blaming others,“ for all of their problems seems to carry less and less weight as time goes on. We Jews need to realize that walling ourselves off in some ways has made us ripe for the picking by those of our own who are so inclined.

Comment by Josh on 12/20/08 at 12:54 am

Quote: “a tribalistic clan working together”

Nothing but conspiracy theory. Everybody knows that Mr. Katzenberg is not even Jewish. He is an atheist - as is Mr. Madoff, although I heard he is in the process of converting Buddhism. So stop the hate speech which I will report to the ADL anyway.

Comment by Dr. Shlomo on 12/20/08 at 9:12 am

tribalistic ? the way jews stick togather ? yup, sure - Madoff was turned in by his sons.

as for the investors, the suffering-ones, a jewish schmuck is still a schmuck.

if Elie Wiesel writes a book about how his losses to Madoff cause him suffering, I shall mover to another planet.

Comment by Mendel on 12/20/08 at 12:25 pm

“...Shoded needs to realize that criticism is healthy for everyone.“

Wow, Josh. Thats really good. You sound like some half-assed social worker running Group Therapy for serial rapists at Pelican Bay. Don’t quit your day job.

“...The regurgitated and worn out claims that people are “...blaming others,“ for all of their problems seems to carry less and less weight as time goes on.“

Get real. “Blaming others” is an American institution. Whole industries are supported by it. Half our legal code is built around it. Carrys less weight? Are you kidding. The freaking system can’t meet the demand.

“...We Jews need to realize that walling ourselves off in some ways has made us ripe for the picking by those of our own, who are so inclined”

Our so-called “clannishness” is not the issue here. Our scumbags are not the issue here, though I grant you that this “our shit doesn’t stink routine” is getting tiresome. What is at issue here is the fact that Madoff has provided an oppurtunity for every non-compes-mentis half wit to come out of the woodwork in order to justify their own weaknesses and corruption.

To wit;

“...He also was viewed as someone with incredible investing acumen. Although managing money was only a tangential part of Madoff’s business, he posted remarkably steady returns of about 10% a year in good times and bad over nearly two decades. As word of his success got around, Madoff cultivated a highly exclusive clientele among wealthy communities in New York, south Florida and Southern California. In certain circles, having Madoff manage your money was something to brag about, like a luxury car or a fancy house.“

“...Yet as far back as 1999, the Securities and Exchange Commission was receiving credible complaints that the investment arm of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities actually was an enormous fraud. In May 2001, the respected financial magazine Barron’s ran a story openly questioning Madoff’s trading techniques and raising potential ethical issues with the secretive way he operated.

But Madoff simply called the allegations “ridiculous,“ and everyone believed him. Regulators ignored the evidence and failed to pick up the scent. The rest of the media just dismissed the accusations. And investors kept pouring money into his funds.“

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-weiner20-2008dec20,0,6721451.story

So as you can see, Josh. Everyone knew about our friend Bernie. Jew and non-Jew alike. Barrons and the SEC didn’t know anything everyone else didn’t already know. The fact of the matter was, as long as the Golden Jew kept laying the Golden Eggs, nobody was going to ask any inconvenient questions. As far as his non-Jewish investors were concerned, as long their were big divedends, his Judaism was considered a plus, tres chic. I mean afterall, who doesn’t want a smart yid managing his money? He only became a dirty jew bastard after the golden eggs turned out to be chocalate wrpped in gold foil. As for the tribe, Madoff played them like a cheap violin. It speaks to the cognitive dissonance(whether by accident or design) that has become endemic in the Jewish Community. By styling himself “orthodox”, by attempting to cover himself in a shroud of pseudo piety, Madoff only enhanced his reputation.

Comment by Shoded Yam on 12/20/08 at 1:05 pm

I am not an anti semite. Some of my accountant’s best friends are Jews. But can one of you kind Jews explain to me what has happened? In a nutshell, please.

Comment by Tom Thumb on 12/20/08 at 8:28 pm

Tom Thumb. What has happene is a US money manager got caught with his pants down. Happens every now and then. Sometimes it’s Christian, sometimes a Mormon, sometimes a Buddhist, sometimes a Jew, sometimes an agnostic, sometimes as Moslem. Sh*te happens. This is not about Jews. This is about one very very bad apple who used members of his own ethnic group to give “purpose” to his life. Rick Warren is not much better.

Comment by Rabbi Bean on 12/20/08 at 10:29 pm

“He (Madoff) only became a dirty jew [sic] bastard after the golden eggs turned out to be chocalate [sic] wrpped [sic] in gold foil.“

Shouldn’t that be white chocolate wrapped in gold coloured foil?

Comment by Coldwindblows on 12/21/08 at 2:12 am

Oy Vey Gewalt Madoff is worse than a Moser.

Comment by Mannstei on 12/21/08 at 8:01 pm

I just want to say that I am not jewish but I do admire the work that the jewish community has done all over the world and the financial hardship that these charities will suffer because the actions of one man. I am sure that people knew what was going on for years but refused to say anything because of his reputation. I am sure that he has millions hidden away but he just might suffer the same faith as Benrie eggers.

Comment by Hector Laureano on 12/22/08 at 12:49 pm

instead of these elaborate theories just follow the money Madoff’s hollywood enabler was Gerald Breslauer, just as Madoff had Ezra Merkin for NY orthodox money, Richard Noel for european jet setters, and someone else in Palm Beach Fl. Soon it will come out that these folk were not naive dupes of Madoff but fund raisers and recipients of big fees from an investor who at best they knew was pushing the envelope and probably worse. At a minimum these folk did no due diligence while representing themselves as financial advisers and did not fully disclose their compensation and conflicts of interest. IMO it will turn out to be far worse.

Comment by finanacial person on 12/22/08 at 6:34 pm

Madoff’s sales pitch was that he was the ultimate inside trader, being as he was a former chairman of the NASDAQ and his daughter was married to an SEC regulator, among other connections.  So everyone who invested money with Madoff was counting on the ill gotten gains of inside trading.

The crooks got crooked!  Swindler’s List is a who’s who of would-be thieves!

Comment by Jeronimus on 12/24/08 at 1:56 pm

The Madoff scandal only serves to show once again that there is a recurring lesson in investment history:there is safety in diversification.

For those commentators above who ignore this and who instead have presented anti-semitic reasons for the scandal, please reflect on the history of similar scandals. Ponzi preyed on his own Italian connections initially. So did the Irish in their Irish sweepstakes. Then they began to draw in others. But Enron involved no specific ethnic group yet there was a similar result.

So it’s not about ethnicity; it’s about diversifying one’s investments. If you give all of your funds to one investor with no checks or balances, or you dump all your life savings in one investment scheme, you’re courting disaster. You shouldn’t trust just one individual for whatever reason.

Comment by ARCHIE PELAGO on 12/26/08 at 12:08 pm

With all of the money those investors provided to Made-Off you would have thought that they could have hired private investigators and financial forensic analysts to give Burny a complete investigation.  As the saying goes “a fools and his money are soon parted.“  If it sounds too good to be true it is.

Comment by Fed Up on 12/29/08 at 12:48 am

They are laughing at you not with you.

I am not sure who is laughing harder , Osama or the WASPS.

Comment by Jerry Seinfeld on 12/30/08 at 6:54 pm

The question of who is a Jew and not a jew is an interesting one.  So many Jews run from their jewish identity.  I am not sure this happens with non-jews.  I have never meet a christen who was afraid to say he worshiped Jesus.

Yet if one is born into the tribe and that covenant is embraced, male or female, then that individual is a Jew to the day they leaves this earth.

So the question is how can a member of a relatively small group perpetrate such a sadness upon their brothers.  I would agree with a previous post, there are horrid humans in every race.

The important lesson here is not about Madoff.  It is is about all jews other then Madoff.

We must live by the laws of Mizvot
to the extent that each of chooses to do so. 

Let this happening and embarrassment be a reminder to us all that each of us are part of a people. 

And please,  NEVER INVEST ALL YOUR MONEY IN ONE PLACE!!!!!

WHAT WERE THESE PEOPLE THINKING.

Comment by elijah on 12/31/08 at 3:26 pm

Scum sucking bottom feeding kikes such as Rabbi Homo would be well advised to take his losses on the chin like a swinging Aryan ballsac and write it off to tribal investment foolery.  But I think Rabbi Homo and the Hollywood Kikes will press Congress to have the US taxpayer foot their stupid bill.  Greed and cheating impulses motivated these Ponzi investors so let them suffer the wrath of God.

Comment by The Big Dinger on 1/06/09 at 10:38 pm

this is not an ethnic problem. i am italian and have seen self service, political correctedness, formal religious piety and pseudo self effacement evolve from the smoldering embers of ambition into the psychopathic “tribal elder” so embodied by Madoff. Look at the Medici’s. it’s the same old story: money and power, fueled by insatiable greed, is the devil’s recipe for any gifted, chosen people to tarnish their birth right. read the history books, my friends. the story repeats over and over…

Comment by enzo straggazzi on 1/07/09 at 9:56 pm

Hi,
I really like those jewish guys in the movie Snatch.  Bernie Madoff does not look like them.  Are we sure his is actually jewish?  Well if we learn anything at all from this Madoff affair, it should be that we are better off nuking each other to kingdom come (FSM), than investing with anyone because of their apparent club membership.

For all the immigration and racism stuff.  After the chromosome count and match, folks are really quite the same, and given large investments in education, greatness can appear from any man.

As Joe Frank says:  Just an Ordinary Man.

Peace out.

Comment by muhammed atta on 1/11/09 at 9:56 am

for me, what madoff did was brilliant!!!

when i first heard of this story i was fuming mad until i realized that this guy was sent from heaven to punish those greedy rich folks who despite of their millions safely deposited in their banks still wanted more and invested with madoff. a lot of foundation were also hit by madoff, well, isnt it that these foundations were created by rich folks as tax shelters to hide their money away from uncle sam.
The small people affected by this is what we consider as collateral damage. sad.

now, i wonder where did madoff carted away his loot? swiss banks?

also, i doubt that this is a one man show. with the enormous amount of money involved, i’m sure he got some help from his family members. i hate to be a conspiracy theorist but i think he really planned taking a dive to save the family….turning himself in is a ploy…

Comment by Deuce Bigalow on 2/05/09 at 11:14 am

Shodad, do you know what “intellectual theft” really is?

Comment by Diane Wilson on 2/05/09 at 4:59 pm

Wow, another rocket scientist.

You know what sarcasm is, you clueless sack of shit? Evidently not.

sar-casm  / Show Spelled Pronunciation [sahr-kaz-uhm] Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun 1. harsh or bitter derision or irony.
2. a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark: a review full of sarcasms. 

Origin:
1570–80; < LL sarcasmus < Gk sarkasmós, deriv. of sarkázein to rend (flesh), sneer

Comment by Shoded Yam on 2/05/09 at 6:22 pm

There are VERY few losers in this scheme.  You know, most of the investors are in on the game.  They will be leaving the country in a year or so and going to the middle east where they will build hotels, casinos and shopping malls with stores that make Harrod’s of London look like Walmart.  They have stolen the gold and now they are taking off to steal from the Arabs.  Little do they know that gold will not be the new form of money in United States.  They will not be able to buy from us, so they will have to eat the gold that they stole from the American people.

Comment by Jared on 2/05/09 at 7:52 pm

Hitler didn’t get enough of this filthy trash of a society

Comment by koko on 2/07/09 at 1:09 pm

Judaism/Jew is a race (and a religion to those foolhardy enough to convert). It’s in the blood. If your parents are Jews, you can’t be an atheist because again, it’s a race not a religion (except for Madonna who converted). This crookery extends back to the beginning of time. Money, money, money, money. Why did we create a haven for these money grubbing bastards. Let them fend for themselves in the middle east!

Comment by HonestWhiteMan on 2/28/09 at 9:45 am

Like all religions, its a book of generally harmless myths.  that its perceived that a disporportionate number of members… of this race, or relition do bad things, well its a shame.  As a race however, they have been conquered and mixed with many other races over the years, so perhaps best strategy is to stop colluding, and start blending in.  Perhaps that was the message from god when he had them bred with slaves…. be an individual, rise on merit.  I see in history every time the folks calling themselves jewish, have attempted an advantage based on their club membership, god strikes them down… or in a more modern way, culls them back.  The jews did this themselves in the wilderness to, in their words “cull back the slave race”.  Where modern day jews are in fact the slave race, maybe this is the best result?  Obama is doing a good job of getting the weed killer out to stop the stranglehold of the club.  Hopefully they do not try to kill him like they did JFK.

Comment by muhammed atta on 2/28/09 at 10:09 pm

I really wonder when we will all realise that we are born without money and we die without money; there is a lesson there somewhere. Our journey in this life has nothing to do with money and the pursuit or loss of it. You are truly free when you desire nothing. You desire nothing because you are everything. We are all part of each other and everything on this earth already. So there is nothing to gain or loose. Only insight.
I hope one day we will all be able to evolve to realise the truly divine potential within. Do not despair. Love is there at the end and you are not alone.

Comment by SilverSurfer on 3/05/09 at 6:23 am

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE ABOVE - SILVERSURFER.  What has happened to the religious part of being a jew?  Trust in G-d and you will come out okay, regardless.  Greed is a sickness.  It is all around us and it is a most destructive force.  By the way, I thought this website was supposed to be “clean” - I see way too much hate and disgraceful comments.  As for Madoff - just another sicko who could not get enough moolah to satisfy his greed.  Now he will know what humility is about.

Comment by Meshuga on 3/12/09 at 1:40 pm

one more thought - if the “investors” in Madoff’s outrageous returns for your money scheme were not so GREEDY themselves, NONE of this would have happened.  Every greedy person out there is looking to get something for nothing but instead got Bernie Madoff.  Ha ha.

Comment by Meshuga on 3/12/09 at 1:53 pm

What he did was dead wrong; outright theft for he which he should spend the rest of his life locked up with robbers and rapists and rapists who rape robbers.  I’m having trouble feeling sorry for his victims.  They just had to get into some exclusive club and feel like a bunch of elitist snobs rubbing elbows with each other.  Great title, BTW, Swindler’s List.

Comment by GordonGekko on 3/18/09 at 5:50 am

you’re joking , right? Just feeding into the ridiculous rhetoric of the rednecks . This guy was a weasel who used people . For him ,it was less about who he was bilking than the fact he was living the high life. What you are not telling people is Madoff ripped off all kinds of people , of a variety of ethnicities and religious (or lack thereof)) persuasions . BTW , f*** you and your stereotype. I’m a construction worker . And a Jew . And if I see any of the skinhead idiots commenting here in real life , they will be introduced to my boot . If I’m nice enough not to put a bullet in their head(s) .

Comment by Mika on 4/25/09 at 11:24 am

I said it before and I will say it again “The only good jew is a dead jew”. Dead jews can’t lie, cheat, steal, murder, scam, swindle, play the victim, commit genocide, so on and so a never ending list of filthy acts commited by the lowest of the low.

Comment by joe on 5/07/09 at 12:45 pm

I agree with Joe, but I’m not fascist. I truly do sympathize for the reason behind why Hitler tried to eliminate all the Jews, because there were mysteriously so many of them suddenly because a disease spread among the Jewish people; a financial and ethical disease…who (thanks to help from the USA) became the great financial powers of the world today…and who are descendants from those very same bankers—which were not even real Jews, they were immigrants from Kazakhstan that came to Israel after world war I. Sure, some of those Illuminati-wanna-bes were slaughtered in WWII, but the powers of Israel had already been established—and the con was successful.
The result: a financial disease that took over the world by controlling the monetary value of foreign currency and making it law to financially sympathize with Israel.
So now, our nation is now morally, ethically, and fundamentally F**KED…and stuck sympathizing with descendants of a bunch of LIARS…who never were real Jews.

Comment by Cab on 5/07/09 at 4:04 pm

So now, our nation is now morally, ethically, and fundamentally FUCKED…and stuck sympathizing with descendants of a bunch of LIARS…who were never even real Jews.

In 1919, a Kazakhian banker from Israel probably said “I have an idea, let’s move to L.A. and print up some debt notes (dollars) to finance Hollywood, to produce movies to distract all the Americans while we begin raping and pillaging the financial wealth of their country…“  Read: “The Creature from Jeckyll Island” by G. Edward Griffin. 

(PS: over a Million American soldiers died or were severely injured during WWII…after 6 million Khazakian Jews were killed by Hitler.)

Obama: Please don’t bail me out again by letting your jewish banker buddies tell you to print some more of my own money, diluting the value of the money I have and decreasing the value of my solid investments…please!

Comment by Cab on 5/07/09 at 4:07 pm

Does anyone recall the USD $80M Bush printed up from nothing and sent to Israel just before he left office??  Hmmmm…What could Israel do with US dollars? FLOOD THEM BACK to the USA and be kings! (buy our property, businesses, homes, and leave us Americans with nothing but “debt notes”, which they control the value of.

Comment by Cab on 5/07/09 at 4:20 pm

Holy stereotypes batman! For the record , there are no financiers in my Jewish family . Lets see , we have a few roofers , carpenters , nurses , hairdressers ... normal folks here . My mum’s a mechanic and my dad’s a taxi driver - we’re really taking over the world! I got my PhD from the school of hard knocks . Idiots!
The only good bigot is a dead one!!!

Comment by Mika on 5/10/09 at 2:26 pm

wow…I gotta say it’s really amusing to read you jews going at it with the gentiles.  You jews are too damn hypersensitive to criticism.  Not saying everything the gentiles say is right, but it wouldn’t hurt to engage in some critical self-examination once in a while.

Comment by Joe Stalin on 5/16/09 at 3:37 pm

Madoff is obviously a high damaged human being.

“Frontline” just aired a show on the Madoff incident.  It seems that Madoff was able to run his scheme only with the help of investment managers from around the globe. 

Money managers were only allowed to invest with Madoff as long as they did not disclose in any way that they had placed funds with Madoff.

Additionally, those suffering loses are located world wide.

Madoff should be seen as just one more failing of the Bush2 administration.  This administration was a failure.  The SEC was gutted and a joke.  Almost every agency in our government was lead by unqualified political puppets.  There are some rumors that Bush himself road out the years, with a bottle in his hand.

If you choose to place a comment as a bigot then you simply show you ignorance.  I would suggest you read,
“james Carrolls, Constantines Sword”.  There is a DVD now available.

Madoff, he is now in the history books.

Those who post evil remarks and pass judgment on millions of humans because of the actions of one,
well those humans are sad and broken some what like Madoff himself.

If you hate then you become hate, if you are evil then evil is what you become.

Comment by elijah on 5/17/09 at 7:06 am

Starbucks is being owned by a Slovakian (Khazakian) Jew named Howard Schultz, who has won many awards for sympathizing with Israel. Accordingly, Starbucks sends a portion of its profits to the Israeli military! Therefore, to boycott them for that reason would be anti-Semitic. But I don’t care; after all: Israel is currently taking our Starbucks money to blanket Palestine with White Phosphorus with every coffee we purchase! Such udder SHAME….The inhumanity!!!!!!!!

Comment by Cab on 6/11/09 at 12:02 am

Post a Comment

Name:  
Email:  
URL:  

Type the word you see below:

Comment:

About this Blog

Blog Home
About the Blogger(s)
Contact

RSS


Blog Archive