Following today's settlement with Madoff trustee Irving Picard and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the widow of Jeffry Picower and Executor of his Estate issued this statement through her lawyer, William Zabel of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.

December 17, 2010

On behalf of my late husband Jeffry and his estate, I am announcing today that we have reached a settlement with the Trustee and that we will return every penny received from almost 35 years of investing with Bernard Madoff, an amount totaling $7.2 billion that will go to the Madoff victims’ compensation fund.  Although it is my understanding that the estate’s legal liability may not have exceeded $2.4 billion, I believe that this settlement honors what Jeffry would have wanted, which is to return this money so that it can go directly to the victims of Madoff.

Although I was not involved in my husband’s business, I was a witness to his integrity in our marriage and in his life during our 40 years together.  My late husband was a talented and active investor who had extraordinary successes in business investments during his career, which will allow me to make this settlement and return to the philanthropic work that was so important to Jeffry and me.  

For further details on this statement and the underlying story, click onto:   [NYTimes Dealbook, "$7.2 Billion Settlement ...", 12/17]