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i_agree_with_nick
31 May 22 13:49
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Date Joined: 21 May 10
| Topic/replies: 14,079 | Blogger: i_agree_with_nick's blog
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Leeson


By the end of 1992, the error account's losses exceeded £2 million, increasing to £23 million in late 1993. This amount ballooned to £208 million by the end of 1994.[17] Leeson had followed a "doubling" strategy: every time he lost money, he would bet double the amount that was lost in order to recoup the amount. This had been successful for him in the past, including once in 1993 where he was able to cover a £6 million negative balance in the error account and after which he vowed not to use the account again. However, Leeson had to maintain his reputation as a trading genius and soon found himself hiding his losses there again. As the losses grew higher and higher, Leeson fabricated cover stories to explain why he needed more cash from London; his sterling reputation protected him from close scrutiny
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Report longbridge • May 31, 2022 2:12 PM BST
from the same Wikipedia article:

"two A level passes in English Literature and History with C and D grades respectively, failing his third subject, Mathematics..."
Report test.for.free.account • May 31, 2022 2:20 PM BST
he has a website and gives talks about how to run business Laugh
Report SlippyBlue • May 31, 2022 2:22 PM BST
Most gamblers I know are brilliant at maths.
Report i_agree_with_nick • May 31, 2022 2:26 PM BST
Also from the same article:

Leeson was appointed commercial manager of Galway United F.C. in April 2005, rising to the position of general manager in November 2005.[27] By July 2007 he had become the club's chief executive officer. In February 2011, after the club encountered financial problems, he resigned his position.
Report longbridge • May 31, 2022 2:28 PM BST
To be fair, as I understand it, he gives talks about how companies can avoid being taken for a ride by people doing what he was doing.

I was in the City for the collapse of Barings - strange times.
Report i_agree_with_nick • May 31, 2022 2:34 PM BST
Indeed, longbridge.  Poacher turned gamekeeper.


Same wiki article:

He is also active on the keynote and after-dinner speaking circuit, where he advises companies about risk and corporate responsibility.
Report test.for.free.account • May 31, 2022 2:35 PM BST
it's good to be a crook
Report i_agree_with_nick • May 31, 2022 2:35 PM BST
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/back-to-the-futures-1.32909

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Confidence and sheer chutzpah is all it takes. Nick Leeson had both in spades. Within four years he was on his way, working for Barings, the City's oldest and most patrician merchant bank.
Report ItsMeSwaddle • May 31, 2022 2:39 PM BST
Martin Gale is effective.
Report longbridge • May 31, 2022 3:17 PM BST
So many failings of the central Risk function - they were told not to look too hard at the Singapore operation because it was a huge fraction of Baring's revenues, when in reality that is exactly why they should have looked.
Report Shanelee1966 • May 31, 2022 9:02 PM BST
It`s a very good book too.
Report i_agree_with_nick • January 18, 2024 12:26 PM GMT
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Report brassneck • January 18, 2024 2:09 PM GMT
There are two sides to martingale,the punter and the layer,there is always a winner and a loser.The loser usually tells his story.
Report DIFERENT GRAVY 12 • January 18, 2024 2:10 PM GMT
Same wiki article:

He turned out to be a right tw@t
Report hulk23 • January 18, 2024 2:18 PM GMT
system working well. 

please send me another US$835 million so i can meet my margin obligations.

ok, Nick.  well done, monies on it's way.
Report longbridge • January 18, 2024 3:28 PM GMT
@test..

Nearly two years late on this but..

"it's good to be a crook"

I don't think he was really a crook in the direct sense.  He wasn't taking money to personally embezzle (though you could argue that his pay was inflated by the results he claimed).

He seems to have been mainly motivated by one or both of (a) maintaining a reputation as a wunderkind player in the eyes of his peers (b) a sense of responsibility in that the revenues of the Far East operation were seen as key in keeping Barings profitable in a period when their UK and European businesses were stalling or worse.
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