Bernie Madoff Built A Hot Chocolate Empire In Prison

Bernie Madoff — the corrupt businessman who is serving 150 years in prison for committing 11 felonies and executing a $65 billion fraud scheme — is apparently putting his sharp businessman skills to use behind bars by building a hot chocolate empire.

A new Audible podcast called "Ponzi Supernova" recently aired exclusive interviews between Madoff and journalist Steve Fishman. Four of the six episodes debuted Thursday, with the other two to follow in coming weeks. One of the more notable and entertaining tidbits that came out of the interviews was Madoff's Swiss Miss empire in prison.

"Bernie really was a successful businessman with quite original insights into the market, and he's continued applying his business instincts in prison," Fishman told Market Watch. "At one point, he cornered the hot chocolate market. He bought up every package of Swiss Miss from the commissary and sold it for a profit in the prison yard. He monopolized hot chocolate! He made it so that, if you wanted any, you had to go through Bernie."