There is no defensible, apples-to-apples ranking of the 21st century’s richest con artists in the available court and government records. The clearest disclosed figure for an individual’s proceeds is more than $300 million earned by OneCoin promoter Karl Sebastian Greenwood. Other headline amounts often cited for Bernie Madoff, Elizabeth Holmes, Sam Bankman-Fried and Joseph Sanberg measure investor losses, customer funds, transfers, loans or forfeiture—not personal fortunes. Here is what those records establish, and what they do not.
Can the richest con artists be ranked reliably?
Not from these figures. A personal fortune, money earned from a scheme, total victim losses, customer funds misappropriated and an amount ordered forfeited are different measures. A scheme’s intake can be far larger than an operator’s proceeds; a forfeiture order is a legal remedy, not proof that the defendant retained that sum as wealth.
The comparison below is therefore a guide to documented, high-value fraud cases, not a league table of personal net worth. Greenwood appears first because the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed an individual earnings figure. The remaining cases cannot be ranked against him—or reliably against one another—using the amounts established in the cited records.
| Person or case | What the reported amount measures | Documented personal proceeds | Legal record in the cited source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karl Sebastian Greenwood / OneCoin | More than $4 billion in scheme intake from at least 3.5 million victims, Q4 2014 through Q4 2016 | More than $300 million in total earnings, according to DOJ | Greenwood received a 20-year prison sentence; DOJ said Ruja Ignatova remained at large in its summary |
| Bernie Madoff | $1.5 billion in withdrawal requests; $300 million in the bank as the scheme collapsed | Not stated in the FBI account cited here | FBI says Madoff received a 150-year sentence |
| Elizabeth Holmes / Theranos | More than $140 million in wire transfers involved in the investor-fraud convictions | Not stated in the DOJ case page cited here | Four investor-fraud-related convictions; mixed verdict on other counts; 135-month sentence |
| Sam Bankman-Fried / FTX | Approximately $11 billion in forfeiture; the opinion also describes misuse of customer funds | Not stated as a personal-wealth figure in the appellate opinion | Second Circuit opinion dated June 12, 2026, records a seven-count conviction and 25-year sentence |
| Joseph Sanberg / Aspiration | $145 million in fraudulently obtained loans, as described by DOJ | Not stated in the DOJ release cited here | DOJ says Sanberg pleaded guilty to two wire-fraud counts in October 2025; its release was updated June 2, 2026 |
Who has the clearest documented personal-proceeds figure?
Karl Sebastian Greenwood and OneCoin
Greenwood is the strongest answer if “richest” means documented personal earnings in this group. The DOJ’s 2023 account says he earned more than $300 million as OneCoin’s top multilevel-marketing distributor. That is an individual proceeds figure, not a claim that he kept that amount or had a net worth of that size.
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The same DOJ account says OneCoin took in more than $4 billion from at least 3.5 million victims between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the fourth quarter of 2016. That figure describes the scheme’s intake, not Greenwood’s earnings. DOJ described OneCoin as a fraudulent cryptocurrency marketed through a global multilevel-marketing network. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at Greenwood’s sentencing: “In fact, OneCoins were entirely worthless, and investors were left with nothing, while Greenwood lined his own pockets with over $300 million.” Greenwood received a 20-year prison sentence. DOJ’s summary says co-founder Ruja Ignatova remained at large; that status is reported as stated in the cited summary, not as an independently updated whereabouts check.
Why don’t the other headline amounts show personal wealth?
Bernie Madoff: account balances were not available cash
The FBI’s account of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme describes fabricated documentation and a mismatch that became obvious when investors sought their money: requested withdrawals exceeded the cash available at the firm. The $1.5 billion in requests and $300 million in the bank are a snapshot of that collapse, not a calculation of Madoff’s personal fortune or the scheme’s total losses. The FBI calls it history’s biggest Ponzi scheme and says Madoff received a 150-year sentence.
Rank #2
Elizabeth Holmes: investor-fraud convictions, not a personal take
The DOJ’s Northern District of California case page, updated December 12, 2022, says Holmes was convicted on four counts related to defrauding investors. The more-than-$140-million figure refers to wire transfers involved in those convictions; it does not establish that she personally pocketed that sum. The jury acquitted her on the patient-fraud conspiracy and patient-fraud counts, and could not reach agreement on three other investor-related counts. DOJ says she was sentenced to 135 months in prison.
For a fuller reported account of Theranos and Holmes, John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup is a relevant further read; Penguin Random House describes it as a book about the company and its founder.
Sam Bankman-Fried: customer funds and forfeiture are separate measures
The Second Circuit’s June 12, 2026 opinion in U.S. v. Bankman-Fried records a seven-count conviction, a 25-year sentence and an approximately $11 billion forfeiture order. The opinion recounts evidence that Bankman-Fried transferred FTX customer funds to Alameda and used them for purposes customers had not authorized. The forfeiture amount is the court’s recorded order, not a measure of personal wealth retained by Bankman-Fried. The opinion addresses his appeal from the judgment of conviction; it should not be mistaken for a personal-proceeds accounting.
Joseph Sanberg: a large loan-fraud figure, not a fortune estimate
In a DOJ release updated June 2, 2026, the government says Aspiration co-founder Sanberg pleaded guilty in October 2025 to two wire-fraud counts. It describes $145 million in loans fraudulently obtained by Sanberg and an associate using falsified statements, as well as a separate purported-revenue arrangement involving sham customers whose payments Sanberg supplied. The loan amount characterizes part of the alleged scheme; the cited release does not establish that it became Sanberg’s personal wealth.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is the most accurate takeaway?
Greenwood has the clearest disclosed personal-earnings figure among these cases, but the records do not support a broader ranking by individual fortune. Madoff’s withdrawal shortfall, OneCoin’s victim intake, Holmes’s convicted transactions, FTX’s forfeiture order and Aspiration’s fraudulent loans describe different things. Treating them as comparable “richest” totals would turn case-specific figures into a misleading net-worth list.
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