Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend

An interesting but slightly overly detailed history of Charles Ponzi and how the scheme which has come to be perpetrated over and over again managed to acquire his name as though it belonged exclusively to him. Given the scope of Bernie Madhoff's running of a Ponzi Scheme, I thought it would be interesting to revisit his story. ( )

Richie's Picks: PONZI: THE MAN AND HIS LEGENDARY SCHEME by Mitchell Zuckoff, Random House, March 2005, ISBN: 0-4000-6039-7

"She says, 'I've got a plan, listen Sam,
How'd you like to make some of that
Easy money?' "

--Ricki Lee Jones, "Easy Money"

I grew up hearing certain get-rich-quick scams being characterized as "Ponzi schemes" and I've certainly heard the phrase "rob from Peter to pay Paul." But I never really knew anything about either one...until now.

"Although the certificates said that the 50 percent [interest on top of principal] would be paid in ninety days, almost from the first Ponzi told investors he would shorten the payoff period to half that. As soon as he was ready for business, Ponzi began his hunt for investors who had as little as ten dollars to spare. He instinctively knew he would find them: 'We are all gamblers,' he believed. 'We all crave easy money. And plenty of it. If we didn't, no get-rich-quick scheme could be successful.' "

Carlo (Charles) Ponzi was a disappointment to his mother. He'd frittered away his opportunity for an education in Rome, squandering his limited funds on young women, fine wine, card games, and a fancy wardrobe. So his mother had him sent in 1903, at the age of 21, to America where the streets were "paved with gold." Despite missteps in the New World that landed him in jail for two short stints, he was still determined to make his mother proud.

Richard Grozier was a disappointment to his father. His dad, Edwin Grozier, had been born into a seafaring family, had worked his way up through the newspaper business under Joseph Pulitzer, and then had bought the Boston Post and turned it into the largest circulating newspaper in that city. Young Richard flunked out of Harvard three years in a row--failing to even pass freshman English all three times--before a roommate successfully took charge of Richard's education (and eventually walked away with his fiancee). Richard's father--who'd had to swallow his pride and plead for his son's extra chances at Harvard--was pretty good at holding a grudge: Richard had worked his way up through the family newspaper business without ever being given any real responsibilities--until Edwin was stricken ill and Richard suddenly had to take over--just in time to investigate that new "financial genius" whose office was around the corner from the Post.

Rose Maria Gnecco was the stunning young lady on the streetcar whom the then-penniless Charles Ponzi swore to an acquaintance upon their first eyeing her that he would one day marry that girl. He did just that. Rose came into the marriage with a small army of relatives who would all come to know her husband quite well.

Lucy Meli was the eighteen year-old business school graduate, who'd arrived from Sicily with her family a decade earlier, and who was hired to organize Ponzi's snowballing business venture.

Louis Cassullo was Ponzi's old cellmate in Montreal. It was fear, not nostalgia, that filled Ponzi's heart when Cassullo abruptly showed up in the Boston office looking for a piece of the action in exchange for keeping quiet about Ponzi's past.

The International Reply Coupon was a financial instrument developed by a group of nations in 1906 so that someone corresponding through the mail internationally could provide their correspondee with the postage funds necessary for a response. World War I had skewed the monetary exchange rates of the participating nations, allowing (theoretically) for someone to buy a Coupon in one country and make a profit (albeit in STAMPS not MONEY) by using the Coupon in the US.

As most blockbuster, award-winning pieces of adult nonfiction that I've read tend to do, PONZI: THE MAN AND HIS LEGENDARY SCHEME reads like an exciting novel--if not better. Author Mitchell Zuckoff, who has been the recipient of a Christopher Award and a finalist for a Pulitzer and an Edgar, kept me turning the pages like nobody's business.

What makes Ponzi such a facinating figure is the fact that when he is at the top of his game, has taken in millions of dollars from his investors, and has come to realize that what began as a legitimate and brilliant plan has no possibility of success, he has no inclination nor intention to take the money and run, or to at least run. Instead, he remains in Boston, slowly sinking in the quicksand of his own making until the funds and his freedom are all gone. Was he that determined to not disappoint his mother one more time?

In today's era of Enron and Halliburton and Martha, and at a time when the S&L scandals responsible for significantly redistributing wealth in America are not all that far back in our nation's past, PONZI will provide readers with a fascinating look at the motivations and impulses of an individual whose grand plans and ill-fated decisions eventually resulted in utter financial devastation affecting thousands and thousands of American families, both rich and poor.

Those effects surely alter the destiny of generations. It is nearly impossible to imagine the extensive ripple effect of the scandal upon the families, relatives, and creditors of those who trusted their family fortunes to Charles Ponzi.

PONZI also provides a vivid portrayal of Boston in 1920. From the characters we meet--such as "Honey Fitz" (maternal grandfather to JFK and the other Kennedy kids) and Mayor Curley--to the diverse Boston neighborhoods, squares, and historic sites we traverse, PONZI has whetted my appetite for experiencing that city when the American Library Association meets there in January.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com ( )

an unflattering biographical work on Ponzi. key points well summarized in Irrational Exuberance by Peter Shiller(?). relevence to '07 since China recently passed laws criminalizing pyramid schemes. ( )

Why do people fall for pyramid schemes? Nigerian phishers? Social Security? (what is the difference between Ponzi's scheme and this program was the biggest question I had). An interesting look at a charismatic criminal. ( )