Where Did All The Money Go?

The New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof in his blog has posted a listing, compiled by Daniel E. Smith, of the private foundations whose assets had been "invested" by Bernie Madoff, which means that they lost either a portion, or in too many instances, the entirety of their endowments.

This list of private foundations illustrates just how foolhardy rich folks have been. As Kristof points out, "A surprising number of the foundations invested in Mr. Madoff shared the same accounting firms, generally small ones at that. One wonders if they could have looked more skeptically at the kinds of trades that supposedly were being placed on the foundations’ behalf by Mr. Madoff."

The impact of the loss of this money will be felt by the nation's non-profit organizations who count on contributions from individuals and their private foundations. The Smith list also includes the major beneficiaries of each foundation's annual gifts.

As previously noted, Madoff's sons did not invest their foundations with their father and used larger accounting firms to file those returns.