Bernard Madoff was born into a New York Jewish family in 1938.

He founded his investment firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, in 1960, with $5,000 earned during summer jobs as a lifeguard and installing sprinklers.

Peter, his brother, joined the firm 10 years later; his nephew, niece and two sons also worked with him.

By the early 1980s, the firm was one of the largest independent trading operations in the securities industry, and by 2000 it had about $300 million in assets.

He was closely involved in the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the self-regulatory organisation for brokers and dealer firms. The NASD went on to found Nasdaq, the screen-based equity exchange, in 1971, and Mr Madoff became its chairman in 1990.

Madoff Securities opened a London office in 1983, and was one of the first American companies to trade on the London Stock Exchange.

Mr Madoff and his wife, Ruth, were noted for their philanthropy. Through the Madoff Family Foundation, they supported theatres, colleges and arts foundations; they also made significant donations to Jewish charitable organisations.

In the days following Mr Madoff's arrest, the assets of the family's foundation were frozen.

The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, a Boston-based organisation that funds trips to Israel for Jewish teenagers, was forced to close: the money used to pay for its trips was invested with Mr Madoff.

The Madoffs were familiar figures on the "Jewish circuit" in New York and Florida. They owned homes in the most moneyed and exclusive spots on the eastern seaboard — the Hamptons and Palm Beach — and Mr Madoff also won many of his clients in these affluent circles.

He sought to capitalise on the personal touch.

In words that are likely to sting as investors and organisations who relied on Mr Madoff's firm reel from their losses, his website promised: "In an era of faceless organisations owned by other equally faceless organisations, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC harks back to an earlier era in the financial world: The owner's name is on the door. Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining the unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm's hallmark."

He was a long-standing member of Palm Beach Country Club, and loved to entertain friends and colleagues on "Bull", his 55-foot fishing boat.

Last Thursday, two FBI agents arrested Mr Madoff at his $5 million apartment on New York's Upper East Side. The 70-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million for what could be the biggest fraud in corporate history.

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