Bernie Madoff, the illustrious fund manager and financial adviser, has become a celebrity of sorts. His notoriety comes from financial misdeeds that are attracting worldwide attention. He may soon lose his freedom if he is convicted of defrauding over 10,000 clients. Before the dust settles from the legal consequences of his $50 million Ponzi scheme, he’s likely to lose something just as precious to many – his hair.

Male Pattern Baldness or Stress?

Madoff is already balding. So far, he only has a receding hairline. His hair loss pattern resembles the typical symptoms of male pattern baldness. On the other hand, maybe the stress of wondering when his Ponzi scheme would fall apart contributed to Madoff’s hair loss. After all, he knew what no one else did about his investment firm.

Being in the limelight should be pleasurable, unless you’re being dragged through the mud, destroying your family name, and you can’t claim you’re innocent! Madoff’s attorneys will spend countless hours preparing some sort of defense to keep him out of jail as long as possible. Madoff will undoubtedly endure unrelenting stress from his situation. He can only postpone the inevitable prison sentence, and he’ll need a lot of money just to remain free temporarily.

Baldness is His Future

He’ll be leaving quite a few hairs on “the bed that he made.” Stress is often a major factor in hair loss for men and women. Hair loss usually stops when the stressful situation ends. For Madoff, there’s no end in sight. Bankruptcy proceedings are already underway. When the criminal cases are finished, he faces the new stress of being incarcerated. Even if he is allowed to hang out at a minimum-security country club prison, he won’t be able to stroll over to Starbucks for a latte on a whim. Look for Bernie to become a member of the bald brotherhood by the time his sentence is served.

You would think that with all the money he was making, albeit illegally, he could have afforded to invest in a hair loss treatment. When money is not an issue, the options are unlimited, although some of them are as unproven as Madoff’s investments. People who recommended him to their friends and the people who gave him their money to invest all trusted him, despite his receding hairline. Perhaps getting his hair loss treated just was not a high priority for Madoff.