Thursday, May 19, 2011
I Knew I Hated That Guy
Bernie Madoff's wine and liquor collection was sold off at auction by Morrell & Co. last week. "All we know about the provenance is that it was seized by the FBI and U.S. Marshals' Service from two locations. More than that, we do not know." Not the best provenance, but Morrell seems to be peddling the collection more as conversation pieces than as quality consumables, and has even included some wines that normally “wouldn’t pass muster and make it into our auction." The 58 lots were valued at a low estimate of $15,000, with the proceeds going to the United States Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund to help pay damages to the victims of Madoff’s multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme. That'll help.
I know a guy who was pretty nearly destroyed by Madoff. Life savings wiped out. So I may already be a little biased in this matter, but what I really, really hate about the guy is that with all that money he stole, he had crap wine and stored it indifferently. I mean, if you're going to rip off all your closest friends, some Jewish charities, some hedge funds, whatever, that's your business. But have some decency. Get a little wine refrigerator for the house in Palm Beach, for god's sake.
