Friday, April 17, 2009
EDWARD CHANCELLOR, The Wall Street Journal,
EDWARD CHANCELLOR, The Wall Street Journal,
A Fortune Up in Smoke
Bernard Madoff has now joined the ranks of great financial villains whose illicit activities have been exposed by market downturns. Among this select group none is more intriguing than Ivar Kreuger, the Swedish entrepreneur known as the Match King.
Kreuger's suicide in the spring of 1932 led to the uncovering of the Depression era's leading financial scandal. Soon after, accountants looking into his holding company, Kreuger & Toll, found a black hole in the balance sheet that was bigger than Sweden's national debt. The failure of Kreuger's U.S. investment vehicle, International Match, brought down the venerable Boston bank Lee Higginson & Co. And Kreuger's downfall provided the impetus for the securities regulation of the New Deal.
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Posted by Editor on 04/17/09 at 08:17 AM •
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