Carlo Ponzi will go down in history as the inventor of the Pyramid selling scheme. At it's peak, he was receiving an estimated $200,000 a day. He was vague as to how he invested the money, but told people they would make a 50% return on their investment in 3 months or be able to roll over their investment to make even more money later.

He bought a controlling stake in Hanover Trust Company, a reputable firm. But when state investigators discovered that Ponzi wasn't investing the money, flagged a problem.

This discovery sparked a run on the fund and the scheme crashed to a halt on August 13, 1920 when thousands of investors demanded their money back. The only investors to make any money were the first ones, the ones at the end lost everything... Ponzi was deported back to Italy in 1934.