The alleged crypto scammer Sam Bank-man Fried (SBF) has been in the news lately for supposedly pulling off the most brazen and possibly largest crypto/ corporate fraud in history.
That got me wondering, why has there never been a corporate criminal as world changing as SBF or Bernie Madoff? Instead our scammers and swindlers like a HushPuppi, gets unprecedented coverage in the international press – even before conviction.
It’s not like blacks aren’t wealthy and ready to be scammed. Most may not know that if black Americans formed there own country – which will not be allowed happen BTW, stop dreaming – they would be the 7th wealthiest nation on Earth!
There will never be Black SBF or Madoff for two simple reasons.
The unrelenting scrutiny of black wealth (a history lesson)
The reason Aliko Dangote and Robert F. Smith gets little to no press – that’s by there own designs. These two men are exceptionally smart people, no one achieves such staggering fortunes from pure luck.
They’ve learnt a sobering lesson from history. It is that whenever the world learns of a black person who has managed to accumulate world changing wealth, the wolves will come for it.
The most famous examples of this phenomena are the rich black cities of Rosewood or Tulsa, both got burnt to the ground (in the early 1900’s alone). Then perhaps the most salient example is Mansa Musa himself, who became the wealthiest human that ever lived. Mali, his country saw it’s wealth and resources plundered by many other empires to nothing.
The other reason there will never be black Madoff or SBF, one word. Trust.
Pop singer Rockwell’s song, Somebody’s Watching Me from the 1980’s explained it better than I possibly can. The repeating Michael Jackson hook from that song goes, “I always feel like, somebody’s watching me”.
If you are black and have entered any department store in your life you’ll know the feeling. True story, I once got followed for 4 minutes around a dollar store – for the love of G.o.d., a dollar store.
Bernie Madoff’s victims were mainly Jewish, most Ponzi scammers will often target members of the their communities first, by taking advantage of an implied communal trust.
Black men won’t be given that given such a pass in any community, even within our own. For us it is always, prove your incense first before we give you any money.
Sam Bank-Fried exploited the implied trustworthiness placed on by society to his benefit and to the detriment of those who implicitly trusted him.
Who was Bernie Madoff?
Bernie Madoff was a financier and former chairman of NASDAQ. As an investment advisor in the early 2000s, Bernie Madoff set up a Ponzi scheme, defrauding thousands of investors. In 2009, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for his actions.
Bernie Madoff is one of the most notorious people in modern history, as his fraudulent practices left hundreds of families bankrupt and his name became synonymous with fraudulent financial misconduct.
What is a Ponzi Scheme?
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scam where the perpetrator will use capital from new investors to pay returns to existing investors, creating the illusion of high returns.
Charles Ponzi made such a con famous in 1920 and this type of fraud has been referred to as a ‘Ponzi scheme’ ever since. Bernie Madoff further popularised this concept in the 2000s when he pleaded guilty to orchestrating one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. Despite its notoriety and tarnished reputation, it remains an unfortunately-prevalent fraud seen around the world.
If Black Americans were a country, they would be the 7 richest on Earth
Recent studies have revealed that black Americans have a spending power of over $1.6 trillion dollars. This is an impressive statistic, especially when considered in terms of GDP per capita.
Moreover, this level of spending power has the potential to profoundly shape and influence the landscape of American business; providing lasting impact and fostering growth within traditionally underserved communities. Businesses across industries must do more to capitalize on this untapped wealth of resources in order to ensure the sustained economic stability of African Americans now and well into the future.