Money doesn't buy you happiness revisited

Maybe a more appropriate title for this blogpost might be "be careful what you wish for."

This morning, Mark Madoff, son of infamous white collar criminal Bernie Madoff, was found dead in his apartment. Mark, 46, committed suicide in his home on Saturday, shortly after sending his wife an email asking her to check on their 2-year old child. The child, who was in the home at the time of the incident, was found unharmed according to investigators.

Mark Madoff was a highroller who benefitted immensely from the money his father stole from unsuspecting investors. Although Mark worked closely with his father and brother Andrew, at the moment there are no legal charges filed against the now-deceased 46-year old father of two.

The news this morning only fuels the intrigue surrounding this real-life drama. Native New Yorkers have seen the story all over the city for the past several months. There seems to be a certain mystique to the rise-and-fall of Madoff. Last week, a personal auction, selling several of Madoff's personal belongings was held, generating quite a bit of interest. Obviously, there seems to be an added element of interest in this story, which has been not only the talk at local watercoolers, but private dinner tables as well.

Outside of New York, the Madoff saga has become the ultimate symbol for Wall Street greed and a microcosm for why the financial system needs to be more tightly regulated. Yes, it's easy to see why this might be the case, but for a lot of people, the story is becoming part of an anti-business crusade that is losing a coherent focus. Madoffs bad, middle class good, but unfortunately it's more complicated than that.

With today's report of Mark Madoff's death, the obvious question of whether his father, who is currently incarcerated for 150 years, can attend his son's memorial service comes to light. Shouldn't a man, despite his wrongdoings be able to bury his son in the ground? There has been precedent for this kind of arrangement as well. So let Bernie Madoff make his peace with his son, right?

Well, the way I look at it, Bernie Madoff was directly responsible for his son's death. Just as he was directly responsible for his son's wealthy upbringing and lifestyle, Bernie Madoff created the problems that would plague his son and lead to his death. Death threats, decaying health, and the dark thoughts that must follow any man who thinks millions of people hate his guts are the reason why two children are now fatherless this morning. The man responsible? Well, he can add eternal guilt to the 150 years he will be spending away from society.

To me, this is not a story that tells us that money doesn't buy happiness. Obviously, money provided the Madoff's with a lifestyle that made them very, very happy. But was their happiness just an illusion? To that, I say most likely not. The only point where the Madoff's fairy tale lifestyle become an all-out nightmare was when the Ponzi scheme went broke and investors began catching onto Bernie Madoff's illegal operation.

What I will say is, above all else, this story warns us to be careful what we wish for. Even if we want oodles and oodles of money, we better visit a genie that at least took business ethics at a graduate school level. If not, bad things are not out of the question. For the Madoffs, the bad things in life have yet to cease. From reading the demise of families in certain Shakespeare tales, I would say there could be some more misery yet in store.