Kriti Mehrotra
As a Netflix original documentary series that lives up to its title in every way imaginable, ‘Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street’ can only be described as equal parts bewildering as well as gripping. After all, it comprises both first-hand accounts of those close to the matter and dramatic recreations to really shine a light upon the way Bernie Madoff pulled off the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Amongst those to thus feature in this production are none other than some of his former employees, including Ellen Hales and Andrew Cohen.
Where is Ellen Hales Today?
Although a native of Silver Spring, Maryland, Ellen actually completed her studies in New York because she knew from a relatively early age that she wanted a rather fast-paced life for herself. The Montgomery Blair High School graduate hence earned her Bachelor’s in Economics from SUNY Stony Brook before pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration-Finance from New York University. Therefore, it was in July 1985 that she truly kicked off her Wall Street career by joining Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, all the while obtaining a Financial Planner Certification.
Ellen was reportedly not only good at her job but also incredibly knowledgeable, enabling her to work closely with Bernie, his younger brother Peter, as well as his sons, Andrew and Mark Madoff. However, around 12 years later, she made a drastic change and left the world of stock trading behind to evolve into a teacher — she primarily taught finance to seniors in a city public high school.
Unfortunately, Ellen had decided to invest her retirement savings with Bernie upon leaving because she really hadn’t noticed anything amiss in his (fictitious) advisory side business. She thus lost almost everything when the atrocious Ponzi scheme came to light in late 2008, something she then worked hard to make up for both financially as well as emotionally. So we’re happy to report that it appears as if she is now actually retired and leading a good, happy, healthy, stable life in Nanuet, New York, alongside her long-term partner Bruce Sherman.
Where is Andrew Cohen Today?
As a New York native through and through, Andrew seemingly graduated from New Rochelle Academy in 1981 before earning his Bachelor’s in Management from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1985. He then pursued his Master’s in Business Administration-Fiance from the New York University Stern School of Business in 1991, all the while beginning a career on Wall Street as the Foreign Exchange Operations Manager at Goldman Sachs (1985-19911).
It was hence in September 1991 that Andrew joined Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities as a Trader and Market Maker, only to step away in May 2000 because he craved something different. There’s no denying he was a top performer, or the fact he considered himself better than even Bernie’s sons (according to the Netflix docuseries), but his interests had ostensibly simply wavered.
Andrew consequently evolved into a Semi-Professional Poker Player for a few years prior to serving as a Fitness Instructor/Personal Trainer, and then he returned to the world of white-collar business. It was in 2017 that he created as well as launched an interactive trading game called Future Traders, a year after which he even landed the role of Developer & Investment Strategist at Validea Capital Management.
The latter two are titles Andrew continues to hold to this day, alongside those of Visiting Distinguished Senior Lecturer at Hampton University and Distinguished Senior Lecturer in Finance, as well as Director of Bloomberg Trading Room at Old Dominion University. In other words, Andrew is currently based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he serves as an educator and entrepreneur while also dedicating every bit of his free time to his family.
