Jérôme Kerviel, a junior trader at a French bank secretly racked up $7.2 billion in losses before he was finally found out. Wow. And then there's this, from the end of the NYT story:
Adding to the mystery is the conclusion by Société Générale executives that Mr. Kerviel had not profited from his trades.
“We have no explanation for why he took these positions, and we have no reason to believe he benefited from a financial point of view,” the banker said. “We don’t understand why he took such a massive position.”
Hmmmm...Well, I can see why they're a bit confused...but let me posit a theory: maybe he was trying to lose money. Perhaps he was the ultimate disgruntled employee, or perhaps he was just so opposed to ze capitaleest peegs that he felt like taking down a major financial institution, just to Fight The Power. I mean, I'm probably wrong, but hey, at least it's a theory...plus it would make for a heckuva movie. You know, one of those artsy "indie" flicks directed by a mainstream actor as a sort of vanity project. The kind that actually turn out to be surprisingly decent, like Goodnight and Good Luck.
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