Hidden Tracks Part 3 “Use It or Lose It” THRIVE Service Livestream

One man single handedly took down a prestigious English bank with a 233-year history.

Nick Leeson, then a young 28-year-old broker, enjoys the rare distinction of destroying Barings Bank.

It all happened when Leeson got on the wrong side of some big trades. As a trader, Leeson had unlimited access to funds and minimal oversight and accountability.

He was taking enormous positions on a bad bet, and they were all going down.

But rather than face up to it, he altered the trading account books so that his losses didn’t show.

By late 1994, Leeson was $352 million in the hole. To try to make it back, the next month he put a big bet on futures on the Japanese stock market.

But a massive earthquake in the Japanese city of Kobe crushed Japan’s stock market… and Leeson’s positions.

Leeson, sitting on losses of $1.2 billion, big enough to wipe out Barings’ balance sheet, threw a Hail Mary by doubling down. It didn’t work.

The bank collapsed and Leeson fled the city. He was arrested and served four years in prison.

Today, he runs a trading service for retail investors.

Jesus said, “To whom much has been given, much will be required.”

He also tells an odd story, a parable, about people who were entrusted with something important and the different ways they reacted and the decisions they made or didn’t make.

Use it or lose it, the saying goes.
Unless you’re too afraid.
Because God knows, fear makes even smart people do dumb things.