Charles Ponzi was down on his luck. In 1919, the Italian immigrant had spent a decade and a half in the U.S. He was looking for a way to get rich and tried his hand at everything — including bookkeeping, sign painting, grocery clerk, dishwasher, and librarian.
He caught a lucky break in August, when he received a letter from Europe. In the envelope was an International Reply Coupon, a clever way to prepay for international postage. Ponzi realized he might be able to use these coupons to make his fortune. All he needed was investors.
What happened next made him a household name. This is the story of the man behind the eponymous Ponzi scheme — a tale of financial fraud that lives up to its linguistic legacy. And we have a Planet Money guide on how to avoid being scammed:
Note: the SEC also has a (less cute) guide to avoiding Ponzi scams.
This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez, mastered by Natasha Branch, and edited by Jess Jiang. It's based on the book Ponzi's Scheme, by Mitchell Zuckoff.
Music: "Smoke And Mirrors," "Tumbleweeds" and "Droid March."
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts
Find more Planet Money: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / our weekly Newsletter.
2024-12-23 21:56297 view
2024-12-23 21:522154 view
2024-12-23 21:491374 view
2024-12-23 21:382370 view
2024-12-23 20:2968 view
2024-12-23 19:591783 view
LOS ANGELES (AP) — With destructive wildfires burning on both coasts, fire officials might use jargo
WASHINGTON — On the afternoon of Feb. 23 last year, Robert Lipovsky and his team of cybersecurity re
The following is the transcript of an interview with Rep. Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, that a