Bernard Madoff, the mastermind behind the worst financial scam in history, has died in prison at the aged of 82, US media reported on Wednesday.
Mr. Madoff died at the secure federal medical centre in Butner, North Carolina.
Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009 for running a pyramid-style scheme that defrauded tens of thousands of people around the world.
The scheme was estimated to be worth between $25 billion and $63 billion.
Madoff would have turned 89 in April.
For decades, Madoff enjoyed an image as a self-made financial guru whose Midas touch defied market fluctuations.
A former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, he attracted a devoted legion of investment clients – from Florida retirees to celebrities such as famed film director Steven Spielberg, actor Kevin Bacon and Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax.
But his investment advisory business was exposed in 2008 as a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that wiped out people’s fortunes and ruined charities and foundations.
He became so hated he had to wear a bulletproof vest to court.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March 2009 to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed”.
“He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values,” former investor Tom Fitzmaurice told the judge at the sentencing. “He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife could live a life of luxury beyond belief.”
US District Judge Denny Chin showed no mercy, sentencing Madoff to the maximum 150 years in prison.
Madoff’s massive rip-off was tied to at least four suicides, including that of his elder son, Mark, who hanged himself on the second anniversary of the fraudster’s 2008 arrest and left behind a bitter note.
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