Madoff with the Money

Chapter 11. Mr. Outside versus Mr. Inside versus the SEC

Bernie, the elder, and Peter, the younger, had a brotherly love-hate relationship.

Their sibling rivalry had started when Bernie realized his baby brother, seven years his junior, was so much smarter than he was. He was envious when Peter got admitted to prestigious Brooklyn Tech High School whereas Bernie never could have made the grade there.

Peter, however, wasn't anywhere near the top of his class, either. His transcript, according to a knowledgeable source, showed that he was 484th out of a June 27, 1963, graduating class of 941. His final average was 81.7, and he was a B student in the subject in which he was seen as superior, math.

Nevertheless, he had gone on to a better college than Bernie, Queens College, where he met his future wife, Marion. While Bernie was hawking penny and over-the-counter stocks listed on what were called the Pink Sheets, and making a nice buck at it, along with building his private investment advisory business, Peter was earning a law degree at Fordham Law School (graduating in 1967)—the degree Bernie never got because he left law school after one year. Moreover, women thought Peter was better looking than Bernie, which always bruised the older brother's macho ego.

From day one, Bernie lorded it over Peter, who had begun working with him around 1965 at the 39 Broadway offices of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, and Bernie would continue to be the dominant one through the years.