Madoff's Miserable Millionaires
The names of thousands of Bernard Madoff’s apparent clients were made public late Wednesday in a 162-page filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. But not everybody who lost money in the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is on the list.
One name not in the filing is movie producer Arnon Milchan's. Condé Nast Portfolio has learned that the Israeli-born billionaire, whose film credits include Pretty Woman and Fight Club, lost at least $18 million with Madoff. In a story due out in its upcoming March issue,due out February 17, Condé Nast Portfolio reveals Milchan’s name and shows how Madoff made inroads into the entertainment industry. Milchan declined to comment.
Last year, Milchan was ranked No. 358 on Forbes magazine's billionaires list, which noted that he had enjoyed "a stellar year thanks to savvy currency trades and unlikely blockbusters" produced by his company, New Regency. Notably, the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks, which New Regency made for $70 million, grossed $358 million worldwide.
According to Forbes, Milchan celebrated that windfall by leaping off the 709-foot-tall Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa, the world's highest commercially operated bungee jump.
The 13,000-name list filed yesterday in federal bankruptcy court doesn't mention Milchan. Nor does it appear to include thousands of customers who invested with Madoff through so-called feeder funds or through international banks. One self-described victim, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, has stated publicly she lost money but doesn't appear on the list, for example.
The list, however, is peppered with trusts and funds with nondescript names.
One explanation for the missing names may be that the list, though marked “Customers,” is less a client list than a mailing list. One of Madoff’s lawyers, Ira Lee Sorkin, is named on the list. But when reached by Reuters on Thursday, he raised the possibility that it was simply a mailing list (while declining to say if he had invested with Madoff).
The list, which was put together by AlixPartners LLC, a firm assisting the trustee in reviewing books and records, was just one of five filed with the court this week. The others are labeled "Vendors," "Employees," "Brokers/Dealers," and "Other Parties."
Among the thousands of people the document lists as Madoff customers are U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, talk-show host Larry King, actors John Malkovich and Kevin Bacon, imprisoned class-action lawyer Melvyn Weiss, former Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, and the late music mogul Ahmet Ertegün.
Other names of interest that appeared on the Customers list are those of Madoff’s wife, Ruth; his sons, Mark and Andrew; and his brother, Peter; plus the World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein; J. Ezra Merkin, the money manager; the Wilpon family, owner of the New York Mets baseball team; former Mets' second baseman Tim Teufel; John Denver Concerts Inc. and John Denver Enterprises Inc.; and the actress Barbara Bach.
Bacon, Merkin, and the Wilpon family have previously confirmed their losses with Madoff.






