: an investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks
Examples of Ponzi scheme in a Sentence
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Disgraced ex-San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy, accused of getting clients to invest in a massive Ponzi scheme, is negotiating a plea agreement in her two criminal cases to avoid a federal trial later this year.
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Patrick Danner, San Antonio Express-News, 30 Jan. 2026
Occupy Wall Street–inflected politics informed its plot, which follows a bunch of workers at the titular tower banding together to rob a Wall Street billionaire, played by Alan Alda, who burned their pensions in a Ponzi scheme.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026
McPhee instead used incoming money to make the 3% payouts to prior investors, a form of fraud called a Ponzi scheme.
—Logan Smith, CBS News, 28 Dec. 2025
All of this fueled fresh attacks from Saylor’s critics who say Strategy’s unusual business model, which revolves around selling stock to buy Bitcoin, is unsustainable or even a Ponzi scheme.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 3 Dec. 2025
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Patrick Danner, San Antonio Express-News, 30 Jan. 2026
Occupy Wall Street–inflected politics informed its plot, which follows a bunch of workers at the titular tower banding together to rob a Wall Street billionaire, played by Alan Alda, who burned their pensions in a Ponzi scheme.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026
McPhee instead used incoming money to make the 3% payouts to prior investors, a form of fraud called a Ponzi scheme.
—Logan Smith, CBS News, 28 Dec. 2025
All of this fueled fresh attacks from Saylor’s critics who say Strategy’s unusual business model, which revolves around selling stock to buy Bitcoin, is unsustainable or even a Ponzi scheme.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 3 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for Ponzi scheme
Cite this Entry
“Ponzi scheme.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ponzi%20scheme. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
Ponzi scheme
noun
Pon·zi scheme
ˈpän-zē-ˌskēm 
: an investment swindle in which early investors are paid with sums obtained from later ones in order to create the illusion of profitability
Etymology
Charles A. Ponzi (ca. 1882–1949), Italian-born American swindler
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