
A Disposition to Be Rich
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.05
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Robertson Dean
-
By:
-
Geoffrey C. Ward
About this listen
How a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States.
Ferdinand Ward was the Bernie Madoff of his generation - a supposed genius at making big money fast on Wall Street, who turned out to have been running a giant pyramid scheme that ultimately collapsed in one of the greatest financial scandals in American history.
The son of a Protestant missionary and small-town pastor with secrets of his own to keep, Ward came to New York at 21 and in less than a decade, armed only with charm, energy, and a total lack of conscience, made himself the business partner of a former president of the United States and was widely hailed as the "Young Napoleon of Finance". In truth, he turned out to be a complete fraud, his entire life marked by dishonesty, cowardice, and contempt for anything but his own interests.
Drawing from thousands of never-before-examined family documents, Geoffrey C. Ward traces his great-grandfather's rapid rise to riches and fame, and his even more dizzying fall from grace. There are mistresses and mansions along the way; fast horses, crooked bankers, and corrupt New York officials; courtroom confrontations and six years in Sing Sing; and Ferdinand's desperate scheme to kidnap his own son to get his hands on the estate his late wife had left the boy.
A Disposition to Be Rich is a great story about a classic American con artist, told with boundless charm and dry wit by one of our finest historians.
©2012 Geoffrey C. Ward (P)2012 TantorCritic reviews
What listeners say about A Disposition to Be Rich
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stefan
- 11-20-23
Fascinating and well-written
Enjoyed this story very much. A good reminder that swindlers can be very effective at separating victims from their money.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jeffrey
- 11-08-22
Slow start but interesting
There's waaayyy too much at the beginning about ward's parents' background. Once you get to him and his con jobs, it's pretty interesting. Not as much on Grant as I expected
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!