Nick Leeson is an English former derivatives trader notorious for bankrupting Barings Bank, the United Kingdom’s oldest merchant bank. He was a rogue trader who made fraudulent, unauthorised and speculative trades, and his actions led directly to 1995 collapse of the bank, for which he was sentenced to prison. The error account’s losses exceeded £208 million. Leeson followed a “doubling strategy: every time he lost money, he would double the amount that was lost in order to recoup the amount. It worked several times, Nick gained credibility and power within the organisation, his team and clients. However, the Kobe earthquake hit early on the 17 of January sending markets and Lesson, into a tailspin. In this episode Leeson shares his life story and his perspective about how business culture, leadership, resilience, systems and controls can all lead to the success or failure of a person and an organisation.
