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Madoff’s Gluttonous Competition

In Dante’s fourth circle of hell, we might well find Bernie Madoff—but while he’s the first name that comes to mind when you think of greed these days, he’s up against a lot of competition when measured against the paragons of financial fraud and all-around selfishness over millennia. Remember Genghis? No slouch of avarice. Or Pope Sixtus? Lest you forget, he built his fortune on the backs of brothels.

Bernie and the rest of Wall Street’s recently exiled heavyweights are just the latest in a long line of titans who let greed and excess get the best of them. Here are some stars from that hall of fame:

Marcus Licinius Crassus
115 BC – 53 BC
A Roman general and Julius Caeser supporter, Crassus was known for buying homes while they were on fire for cheap, before ordering his minions to put out the flames. Not entirely unlike some real estate speculators today, apparently.

Genghis Khan
1162-1227
Khan wanted to own the entire world, and actually got pretty close. The kingdom he eventually amassed went from the Pacific Ocean to the Adriatic Sea.

Pope Sixtus IV
1471
Pope Sixtus made money by licensing and taxing brothels, and also sanctioned the Spanish Inquisition, which helps to explain why he’s often dubbed as one of the most evil people of the 15th century.

William H. Vanderbilt
1821-1884
An heir to his family’s fortune, Vanderbilt controlled the country’s railroad network and became known for saying “The public be damned!” which is certainly one way to get on the list of greediest people in history.

William M. “Boss” Tweed
1823-1878
Tweed took more than $200 million from New York taxpayers during his time in office, the equivalent of around $8 billion in 2009. He was also around 300 lbs, which made him appear the glutton he was and a fantastic target for political cartoonists.

Empress Dowager Cixi
1835-1908
During her 50 year rule over China, the empress built herself a marble banquet boat—with the navy’s money, of course—and owned more than 3,000 jewelry boxes housing an uncountable number of priceless baubles.

Charles Ponzi
1882-1949
Ah, Ponzi. The man who started it all. He’s a sure bet for this list any day: The good news about having a moneymaking scheme named after you is that it pretty much secures your position among any of the greediest people.

Imelda Marcos
1929-
Whether it was her $5 million shopping sprees in New York and Rome or her 3,000 pairs of shoes, Marcos takes the cake in excessive spending.

Ivan Boesky
1937-
Boesky used inside information to make more than $200 million 1980s. Not only that, but he inspired the Gordon Gekko character in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, so at least we can thank him for that.

Dennis Kozlowski
1946-
The former Tyco CEO defrauded shareholders of $400 million and spent more than $1 million in company funds on a 40th birthday party for his wife. But then again, the party featured “an ice sculpture of Michelangelo’s David spewing vodka from his penis,” so maybe it was worth it.

Bernard Madoff
1938-
Sure, Bernie defrauded investors of more than $50 billion—making his fraud possibly the largest ever—but that doesn’t seem quite so bad after hearing about all the other robber barons in history now, does it?

Tags: fraud, greed, Madoff, scams