Former financial arbitrage trader Jerome Kerviel is the most indebted man on the planet, owing his former employer $6.3 billion.
The amount Kerviel owes to French bank Societe Generale for fraudulent trades made in 2007 and 2008 would make Kerviel one of the 50 richest people in America if those debts were assets.
The Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien writes that Kerviel managed €50 billion ($73 billion in unadjusted dollars) worth of unauthorized trades during his tenure at Societe Generale, using a sophisticated scheme of computer hacking and deceptive trades to deceive the bank.
O'Brien writes:
"In plain English, arbitrage just means taking advantage of discrepancies when things should have the same price, but don't. The idea is to buy the cheaper one, sell the more expensive one, and then wait for them to converge. The beauty is it doesn't matter whether markets go up or down--you're both long and short--just that the prices actually converge."
O'Brien spoke with former investment banker and current University of San Diego law professor Frank Partnoy about the logistics of trying to collect $6.3 billion from a single individual.
"Well, he's obviously not going to be able to pay the fine," Partnoy told the Atlantic. "What happened to Kerviel is the financial equivalent of sentencing someone to life plus 100 years. They'll likely reach some kind of agreement where a significant percentage of any money he makes for the rest of his life will be paid into a fund to cover the fine. He'll be like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill every day for the rest of his life."
And while you could debate whether there are better ways for Kerviel to pay back Societe Generale, Partnoy offers a stark comparison to the fines levied against some of the world's largest financial institutions. In 2010, Goldman Sachs agreed to a $550 million settlement with Securities Exchange Commission, paid in part to investors and the U.S. government, which the SEC described as the largest settlement in history against any Wall Street firm.
Jerome Kerviel, The Most Indebted Person In The World, Owes $6.3 Billion To Former Employer, Societe Generale. In a hyper-competitive world where everyone strives to be the biggest, boldest and most famous, no one covets Jerome Kerviel record-breaking achievement. He is the most indebted person in the world.
Former financial arbitrage trader Jerome Kerviel is the most indebted man on the planet, owing his former employer $6.3 billion. The amount Kerviel owes to French bank Societe Generale for fraudulent trades made in 2007 and 2008 would make Kerviel one of the 50 richest people in America if those debts were assets.
Due to Jerome's manipulation of the bank's funds during the year, Société Générale suffered a loss of 7.2 billion dollars. In 2008, Jerome was accused of forgery, breach of trust, and unauthorized computer use. Jerome was deeply in debt at the time his scheme was discovered. He owed $6.3 billion in debt.
The sharply-dressed Kerviel is, at least on one measure, the world's poorest man, owing SocGen around $6.3bn (£3.7bn). But consider that by this metric of net wealth, US medical students are among the worst off in the world while studying, yet are likely to earn much more that most upon qualifying.
Jerome Kerviel, The Most Indebted Person In The World, Owes $6.3 Billion To Former Employer, Societe Generale. In a hyper-competitive world where everyone strives to be the biggest, boldest and most famous, no one covets Jerome Kerviel record-breaking achievement.
Jerome Kerviel, an ex-Societe Generale trader, is arguably the poorest man in the world. He has more debt than anyone else in the world. The poorest person in the world's net worth is -$7.2 billion.
It explores how debt works and… The “world's richest man,” Elon Musk, purchased Twitter (since renamed X) for $44 billion in 2022. It's estimated he holds $13 billion of that amount as debt from bank and other loans, a sum the average working class person would obviously face severe repercussions for.
Jérôme Kerviel (French pronunciation: [ʒeʁom kɛʁvjɛl]; born 11 January 1977) is a French rogue trader who was convicted and imprisoned in the 2008 Société Générale trading loss for breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized use of the bank's computers, resulting in losses valued at €4.9 billion.
Fannie Mae is the world's largest debtor, carrying $4.232 trillion in debt. U.S. companies make up 60.13% of the $10.8 trillion owed by the top 100 global companies in debt. Toyota holds the title of the world's most indebted company outside the financial industries, with a debt of $221.13 billion.
In fact, 73% of millionaires surveyed in the US have never carried a credit card balance,1 while 56% of active credit card accounts in the United States currently have a balance. One big exception is mortgages, and even some of the super-rich use mortgages when buying their homes.
VERSAILLES, France (Reuters) - Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel is liable for only 1 million euros (£866,646.06) of the 4.9 billion euros (£4.25 billion) in losses he racked up at the bank, and not the whole amount, a French court ruled on Friday.
All values are adjusted to 2023 dollars. As of January 2023, the five countries owning the most US debt are Japan ($1.1 trillion), China ($859 billion), the United Kingdom ($668 billion), Belgium ($331 billion), and Luxembourg ($318 billion).
The largest holder of U.S. debt is the U.S government. Which agencies own the most Treasury notes, bills, and bonds? Social Security, by a long shot. The U.S. Treasury publishes this information in its monthly Treasury statement.
Dave Ramsey is the founder and CEO of the company Ramsey Solutions, where he's helped people take control of their money and their lives since 1992. He's also an eight-time national bestselling author, personal finance expert and host of The Ramsey Show.
India is a case in point. Although it is the WB's biggest debtor, its existing stock of WB debt jumped from $5.6bn to $37.1bn between 1980 and 2010. It then almost stopped growing, reaching a peak of $39.7bn at the end of 2021 before declining the following year.
Introduction: My name is Margart Wisoky, I am a gorgeous, shiny, successful, beautiful, adventurous, excited, pleasant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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