Bernard Madoff: What You Need to Know

Updated from Monday, Dec. 15

The multibillion Ponzi scheme Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff is accused of running has created quite a stir since regulators unveiled a complaint late last week detailing some $50 billion in losses.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, Madoff allegedly informed two senior employees that the investment advisory business was a fraud and had been insolvent for years. According to the complaint, Madoff told these employees that he was "finished," that "it's all just one big lie," and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme." (Photo gallery: Reported losers in Madoff scandal)

Madoff's Web site lists nearly 1,500 securities in which the firm maintains a market, including stocks such as Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

TheStreet.com has been on the story since it broke late on Dec. 11:

Doug Kass called it "the single biggest financial story of the year. It is bigger than WorldCom, bigger than [Ivan] Boesky and bigger than Tyco." In a separate item Friday, Kass said the Madoff scandal could have contributed to the overnight market selloff, which was attributed to the collapse of a bailout package for struggling automakers General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and Chrysler.

Jim Cramer called the alleged fraud "the highest profile hedge-fund scandal I may have ever seen."

"It's a gigantic green mass on the screen and its heading right for the psyche of this frail market," Cramer wrote.

Dan Freed said "the news could deal another blow to markets already reeling from a series of blowups that began with the unraveling of two Bear Stearns hedge funds last year."