ponzi means pertaining to a scheme whereby investors' returns are paid for directly by later investors' investments, giving the false impression that the investment is viable.
ponzi is pronounced /ˈpɒnzi/.
Why “ponzi” is a great word
Pertaining to a fraudulent investment scheme in which returns to earlier investors are paid from the capital contributed by later investors, creating a false impression of profitability. Named after Charles Ponzi (1882–1949), an Italian con artist who notoriously perpetrated such a scam in the early 20th century. Unlike a 'pyramid scheme,' which structurally depends on the constant recruitment of new participants to funnel money upward, or the generic 'scam,' a Ponzi centrally pools the incoming capital, crafting a meticulous illusion of a thriving enterprise. It is the check that arrives just in time to silence doubt, the compound interest that compounds nothing but hope, and the hollow quiet of the empty office after the last deposit clears—a monument not to greed, but to the universal hope that a system can defy the simple arithmetic of reality.
Etymology
Named after con artist Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) who notoriously ran such type of scam.
adj
- Pertaining to a scheme whereby investors' returns are paid for directly by later investors' investments, giving the false impression that the investment is viable.e.g.“Officers, who say he [Kautilya Nandan Pruthi] was Britain's most prolific Ponzi fraudster "by some way", fear that only around £2m will be returned to his victims.” — 2012 March 8, “Fraudster jailed for Britain's biggest Ponzi scam”, in The Guardian:
noun
- A Ponzi scheme.e.g.“Based on the media's portrayal of these Ponzies, at the end of the day, it seems as though these villains had zero concern about what they were doing to their clients.” — 2010, Nico R. Willis, Death of the American Investor, The Emergence of the New Global eShareholder, page 28:
verb
- To introduce or perpetrate a Ponzi scheme style scam.e.g.“Harry then ponzied over on Rotarians, the slickest scheme in high finance that has ever been witnessed by the organization.” — 1920, Rotary Club of Minneapolis, “Today's Meeting”, in The Tribunette, volume 7, number 29:
- To deceive someone by promising false investment returns that are funded by the proceeds of a new victim.e.g.“About 6,000 California investors did—and got "Ponzied" out of their money.” — 1999, Jack Heselov, Politics, Money & Shtick, page 24:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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