He Was Making $250k A Day
Through his wheeling and dealing as he participated in the most pernicious form of redistribution of wealth, he was raking in a considerable amount of income. He purchased a mansion, a bank (which, surprise surprise, didn’t last long) and was known for walking around town with gold-handled canes. Investment tip: don’t trust a guy that’s LITERALLY swinging a cane.
The Boston Post Brought Him Down, And Won A Pulitzer For It
The Boston Post at first published stories as googly-eyed as the rest about Ponzi’s remarkable profits, but as they delved further into him, they became, rightfully, suspicious. They began to run articles questioning his strategies, and government investigators were already starting to sniff around. To fight the bad press, and at the suggestion of his publicity agent, Ponzi opened his books to a government auditor. This was not a good solution, because as we know, his books were f**ked.
His Own Publicity Agent Ratted Him Out
William McMasters, the publicity agent who’d suggested the audit, maybe via starting to hear from the auditors that the numbers didn’t make any god damned sense, or just via collecting guilt, spoke to the Boston Post on the record, revealing Ponzi was “hopelessly insolvent” and alleging him to be probably $4.5 million in debt at a minimum. By this time, Ponzi’s office was busier than ever, for the…
