Did You Know That Jerome Kerviel Is The Poorest Man In The World?

By Soko Directory Team / Published September 30, 2021 | 2:30 pm

KEY POINTS

In a single year, Jerome Kerviel amassed more wealth than entire countries and regions will ever see. But at the same time, he also has debt that will never be paid off. So, on paper, he is the poorest person in the world, but there are still billions who can’t even afford basic needs.

Jerome Kerviel is best known as the trader who lost the largest amount of money in the world. He was convicted and imprisoned in 2008 for breach of trust, forgery, and unauthorized use of computers. Currently, he has more debt than anyone else in the world.

He may not have thoroughly thought that a single high-risk business practice would see his wealth rolling down the hill. His appetite for amassing a vast security position would later leave him counting on severe losses and becoming the poorest person ever.

He was born on 11, 1977 in Pont-l’Abbé, Brittany, France to Marie-Josée and Charles. He was raised alongside an older brother named Olivier.

Regarding his educational background, Jerome Kerviel graduated from the University of Nantes with a bachelor’s degree in finance. Jerome Kerviel later graduated from Lumière University Lyon 2 in 2000 with a Master of Finance specializing in organization and control of financial markets.

What happened to Jerome Kerviel is highly surprising and daunting at the same time. Many people cannot stop imagining how a billionaire could have lost their wealth overnight. While we are at that, most people maintain he is now suffering the pain he brought to himself.

Experts have likened his fatal risk with about 1.5 times the market capitalization of a global bank, or five times the economic output of Cambodia. So, it could be less surprising if no one knew about the risk grounds that Jerome was treading.

Jerome worked with a leading banking firm as a junior-level derivatives trader, earning about US$66,000 every year. His hard work at Société Générale (SocGen) saw him accumulate a whopping US$73 billion stock index futures position in the wake of 2008.

His decisions, later on, cost SocGen a tune of US$7.2 billion, roughly six times more of what Nick Leeson lost at Barings. Derivatives are lucrative investments drawing value from real assets, including oil price, market index, and stock.

Investing in the Eurostoxx pan-European stock index futures contracts (30 billion Euros), Germany’s DAX futures (18 billion euros), and London’s FTSE futures (2 billion euros) was never a good idea.

He made this move hoping that the markets would shoot in the following months, and he would have profited through arbitrage.

His blind hope sunk amid market falls that were experienced after that. It later emerged that Jerome suffered the loss deliberately in an attempt to mask his illegal dealings at the company. According to a report released by SocGen, Jerome had been involved in a series of trade frauds.

The report uncovered no other charge against him. These revelations indicated that he had indeed undermined the company’s trading policies. As a result, the company fired him soon after.

A few years back, Jerome handed himself to the authorities and started serving a jail sentence for his breach of trust at Societe Generale. The trader has more debt than the most unfortunate person you have ever met.

Little did Jerome know that his involvement in unauthorized trades would cost his lifelong savings and throw him into jail after that.

About Soko Directory Team

Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system.Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory

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