Richard Behar is a contributing editor for Forbes, and an associate producer and narrator of an upcoming docuseries on organized crime in the former Soviet Union. He previously worked on the staffs of Fortune and Time, and carried out probes for Fast Company, CNN, and BBC. In 1998, he conducted the only prison interview of Dennis Helliwell, who ran the longest-known Ponzi scheme prior to Madoff’s arrest. In 2005, Behar launched Project Klebnikov, a global media alliance committed to shedding light on the Moscow murder of his friend and colleague, Forbes editor Paul Klebnikov. Over a four-decade career, Behar has garnered more than twenty journalism awards. Madoff: The Final Word is his first book.
“Behar approaches this towering mountain of material with rigor. . . . Madoff: The Final Word carefully explains complicated matters like the turned cheek of J.P. Morgan Chase, which Behar calls ‘a gluttonous hydra when it came to Bernie,’ and the trial of the Madoff Five. . . . Behar, too, seems determined to see Madoff’s humanity, and the tragedy of his family.” —The New York Times “A savvy debut . . . Behar skillfully elucidates Madoff’s scheme. . . . Behar’s entertaining account shows how easily a sociopathic liar will be enabled by a greedy system.” —Publishers Weekly “A penetrating account of the web of lies that won the late con man Bernie Madoff his billions . . . A well-written, swift-moving story of true crime and punishment.” —Kirkus Reviews