MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street docuseries was released on Netflix on January 4, 2023, and ever since then the OTT giant has been getting praise from left-right and center for its impeccable storyline that shook the foundation of the US Economy. MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street is a docuseries, meaning it is based on accounts, and experiences of real-life victims and people who closely followed the infamous Bernie Madoff case. For the unversed, Bernie Madoff was an American financier who plead guilty to committing the largest investment fraud to ever happen in the US — cheating tens of thousands of investors out of nearly $65 billion with his infamous Ponzi scheme. Netflix's portrayal of Bernie Madoff keeps the docuseries balanced as it shows everyone's perspective, be it the victim, be it the FBI, be it the SEC, or even the former employees of the 'Wallstreet Monster'. Although there are many questions arise in fans' minds after watching MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street since the case is still going, one general question that pops into everyone's head is who is the tenant or who is the owner of the infamous/iconic Lipstick Building after its seventeenth floor was declared as a crime scene by the FBI?
Who is the current owner of Lipstick Building after the Bernie Madoff scandal?
For the unversed, The Lipstick Building is also known as 885 Third Avenue and 53rd at Third. It is a 453-foot tall skyscraper on Third Avenue between 53rd Street and 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was completed in 1986 and has 34 floors. Bernie Madoff operated his Ponzi scheme from the same Lipstick building for over two to three decades. While Bernie used the 19th floor of the building for his legitimate trading business, he used the 17th floor to carry out his Ponzi scheme which he used to take investors' money and assured them of investing it and did not do it at all. Bernie committed the largest investment fraud in the history of the United States and as a result, he was sentenced to 150 years of jail time.
Coming to the lipstick building again, the iconic Manhattan skyscraper has changed hands of ownership a few times since 1986. Hines Interests was the group behind the construction, having acquired the site in 1981. In 2004, Hines sold the building to Tishman Speyer, and a partial stake was then sold to Prudential Real Estate Investors. In 2007, a new and complicated agreement was reached, giving ownership of the land site of the Lipstick Building to SL Green, while Metropolitan 885 Third Avenue LLC owned the building itself. In 2021, SL Green Realty Corp. acquired the Lipstick Building and continues to own and manage it today.
Two primary architects designed the Lipstick Building originally: Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Gerald D. Hines was the developer on the project. The facade is made of red imperial granite and stainless steel. The Lipstick Building is 453 feet in height, located at Third Avenue between 53rd Street and 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Madoff's main office on the 17th floor was halfway to the top of the 34-story skyscraper. About 580,000 square feet of space is rentable, primarily for corporate office use.
Bernie Madoff's fraud in a nutshell
Bernie Madoff was a stockbroker, adviser, former NASDAQ chairman and securities company founder. Madoff helped countless clients grow their funds — but it was all a lie: “Madoff never did any investing for his investment advisory business. It involved simply taking people’s money, telling them he was going to invest their money, and he never did,” Madoff trial expert witness Bruce Dubinsky says in the docuseries. After his 2008 arrest, Madoff left many victims in his wake, several of whom died by suicide or suspected suicide in the aftermath of the devastating financial collapse. Sentenced to 150 years in prison for 11 felony charges, Madoff died in 2021 from natural causes. Madoff was turned in to the Police by his own two sons. However, the media lynching or let's say the public trial forced his son to commit suicide, while the other son died of lymphoma in his 40s.