This morning I woke up and went through my usual ritual, roll over to my blackberry and go to cnbc.com. As I scrolled down I noticed the breaking news story titled “Mark Madoff Found Dead of Apparent Suicide” I felt a sense of sadness. Although many out there wish nothing but the worst for the entire Madoff family, I believe that this is a true tragedy and perhaps will only hinder the efforts of investors/lawyers who were hoping to get back at least some of their money from the massive fraud.
Mark Madoff, 46, was most famously known as one of Bernard “Bernie” Madoff’s sons. Bernie Madoff, aka the King of The Ponzi Scheme, was sentenced to a 150 year prison term for operating a fraud of nearly $65 billion from individual investors & charities just to name a few.
Police found Mark Madoff in his SoHo apartment hanging from a black dog leash early this morning. Mark’s wife, Stephanie, had been getting nervous from the tone of her husband’s emails and sent her father to go check on him & her two year old son, he was found unharmed sleeping in the bedroom next to Mark’s.
Today marks the two-year anniversary of Bernie Madoff turning himself in to authorities.
Bernie Madoff continues to say to this day that he was the only one in his family that had knowledge of the scheme and that his son’s (who worked along side him) were kept in the dark.
Mark Madoff worked on the trading side of the business (the only part of the firm that was legitimate) for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, which went out of business following his father’s admission of guilt. According to various news outlets, Mark Madoff was recently searching for jobs but having no success given his tarnished family name.
The death of Mark Madoff makes me think back to a quote I heard earlier this week from Elizabeth Edwards who passed away due to cancer. She posted the following to her Facebook page prior to her death.
“The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered,” she wrote. “We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren’t able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It’s called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful.”
It amazes me at how much this quote could have helped out Mark Madoff. Elizabeth Edwards looked at her fight with cancer straight in the face and even thought she lost the battle, she still felt as if she made an impact, even until her very last day. Mark Madoff could have used Mrs. Edward’s spirit during this difficult time in life; perhaps he would still be with us today if he did.
I understand its difficult to compare Elizabeth Edwards’ battle with cancer to Mark Madoff’s situation but one can tell that Mark truly must have felt he wasn’t able to muster the strength & patience that Edwards speaks about. With the proper support from family & friends, while also knowing that you have a son who is looking up to you, its almost hard to believe how anyone would ever choose suicide, even in this situation.
One has to wonder how his father & mother are feeling today. Guilt? Sadness? Loss? We can only continue to speculate, as I’m sure the Madoff’s will not be very forthcoming with the media on this topic.
Please remember if you or anyone you know is struggling with depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts, please feel free to reach out to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The website is http://www.afsp.org/, they also have a Facebook page as well.
