Madoff grew up in a middle class jewish family graduated from Far Rockaway High School in New York City in 1956 and from Hofstra College in 1960 with a degree in Political Science. He worked in the financial services industry and eventually became chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers. He was co-founder of the Nasdaq securities exchange and Founder and owner of Madoff Securities, a registered broker dealer and a market maker in hundreds of Nasdaq stocks.
It was that impeccable background that made so many willing to trust him without question.