Events: M

M

• Madoff Ponzi scheme 11 Dec 2008On 11 December 2008 the SEC sued Bernard Madoff over what it alleged was a Ponzi scheme; he was sentenced to 150 years in 2009.
• Mashpee children sent to Carlisle, 1904 to 1916 1904–1916Mashpee children were sent to the Carlisle Indian School, which the Interior Department administered.
• Mass rating downgrades of July 2007 10 Jul 2007On 10 July 2007 Moody’s downgraded and S&P put on watch hundreds of mortgage securities, the start of what a Senate staff report calls the first mass downgrades in U.S. history.
• Massachusetts abolishes the Mashpee district, 1870 1870Law of 1870 that conveyed the remaining Mashpee tribal land and created the town of Mashpee; the Mashpee Tribe says the federal approval required by the 1790 Act was not given.
• Massachusetts complaint against Purdue and the Sacklers (2019) 31 Jan 2019The Massachusetts attorney general’s amended complaint, filed in unredacted form on 31 January 2019.
• Massacre after the Belgian withdrawal from the ETO school (Don Bosco), Kigali, 11 April 1994 11 Apr 1994About 2,000 people sheltered at a Kigali school with Belgian UN troops; the troops left on 11 April and many of those left behind were killed. The UN inquiry calls the school ETO; Frontline calls it Don Bosco.
• McConnell v. FEC 10 Dec 2003U.S. Supreme Court case of 10 December 2003 on the 2002 campaign finance reform law and “soft money”.
• McCutcheon v. FEC 2 Apr 2014U.S. Supreme Court case of 2 April 2014 that struck down the overall limit on what one person may give to candidates and committees; the limits on gifts to any one candidate stayed.
• McDonnell v. United States 27 Jun 2016U.S. Supreme Court case of 27 June 2016 that narrowed what counts as an “official act” in federal bribery law.
• McKinsey opioid settlement (2021) 4 Feb 2021McKinsey agreed on 4 February 2021 to pay $573 million to settle state opioid claims, admitting no wrongdoing.
• McKinsey resolution of the Purdue investigation (2024) 13 Dec 2024On 13 December 2024 McKinsey agreed to pay $650 million and entered a deferred prosecution agreement; a former senior partner, Martin Elling, pleaded guilty to obstruction and was sentenced to six months in prison in 2025.
• Meeting at Jekyll Island Nov 1910Secret gathering in November 1910 where six men wrote a plan for a central bank.
• Meeting of 20 February 1933 20 Feb 1933Hitler and Göring met about two dozen industrialists in Berlin; afterwards Schacht asked them for an election fund of three million Reichsmarks.
• Meeting of Zionist leaders with Sir Mark Sykes 17 Feb 1917Meeting in London on 17 February 1917, described in Chaim Weizmann's memoir, where the Zionists said they wanted British protection of Palestine, not an international regime.
• Melvin Capital wind-down 18 May 2022In a letter of 18 May 2022, founder Gabe Plotkin told investors that Melvin Capital would unwind its funds and return capital to them.
• Menendez bribery case Jul 2024Federal bribery trial of Senator Robert Menendez; the jury found him guilty in July 2024.
• Mergers of the Big Eight accounting firms 1987–1998Between 1987 and 1998 six of the eight largest U.S. accounting firms merged in pairs, leaving four with Arthur Andersen’s end in 2002.
• Mexico asks Spain for an apology, 2019 Mar 2019In March 2019 Mexico's president wrote to the King of Spain and the Pope asking them to apologise to indigenous peoples; Spain's government rejected the request.
• Minnesota bounties and punitive expeditions, 1863 1863Minnesota put bounties of $25 to $200 on Dakota scalps and sent expeditions into Dakota Territory in 1863.
• Misconduct charges against Herbert Needleman, early 1990s 1990–1994Two psychologists reported Needleman’s 1979 study to federal officials; a university inquiry and a federal review followed.
• Moctezuma taken into the Spanish quarters 1519Soon after arriving, Cortés took Moctezuma to the Spanish quarters. Cortés writes that it was to settle the killing of Spaniards on the coast; the Nahua account describes a seizure.
• Money Trust Investigation 1912–1913House hearings of 1912–13 into whether a few financiers controlled money and credit, with J. P. Morgan testifying on 19 December 1912.
• Moody’s settlement with the Justice Department, 13 January 2017 13 Jan 2017Moody’s paid $863,791,823 to the Justice Department and 21 states and the District of Columbia, and acknowledged a statement of facts.
• Morgan–Belmont gold contract of 1895 8 Feb 1895Contract of 8 February 1895 under which two banking groups sold the U.S. Treasury 3,500,000 ounces of gold for 4 per cent bonds.
• Morley v. CIA 2003–2010Lawsuit begun in 2003 under the Freedom of Information Act for CIA records on George Joannides.
• Murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli Jul 1979Milan liquidator shot dead, July 1979.
• Musk’s Clubhouse questions to Robinhood’s chief executive, 31 January 2021 31 Jan 2021On a live audio show on Clubhouse, Elon Musk, a guest, took over the questioning and asked Robinhood chief executive Vlad Tenev about the week’s trading limits and about Citadel.
• Musk’s “Gamestonk!!” post, 26 January 2021 26 Jan 2021At 4:08 p.m. on 26 January 2021 Elon Musk posted “Gamestonk!!” with a link to the wallstreetbets forum; Robinhood staff saw a spike in new accounts after it.