Ferdinand Ward: the Best-Hated Man in the United States

Sara & Danny are back with a conman from New York history, Ferdinand Ward, who earned himself a reputation worthy of the nickname "Young Napoleon of Finance" - and eventually, the "Best-Hated Man" in the country. Sara and Danny dive into his early scams and how he leveled up into a bank-collapsing Ponzi scheme that landed him in Sing Sing - but that still wasn't the end of his misdeeds.
RESOURCES:
https://moneyweek.com/economy/people/601293/great-frauds-in-history-the-downfall-of-ferdinand-ward-the-napoleon-of
https://archives.nypl.org/mss/22284
A Disposition to Be Rich: Ferdinand Ward, the Greatest Swindler of the Gilded Age by Geoffrey Ward
“Read all about Geneseo’s dirty rotten scoundrel” - Livingston County News
https://www.brooklynpaper.com/family-guile-historian-discusses-his-criminal-ancestor/

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