The pursuit of financial security is a never-ending uphill battle that is fought by people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. A number of outlets that keep a close eye on people’s net worth tend to ignore those who are struggling financially. When there are so many people in need, it is laughable to consider the possibility that one of them could be the poorest. Who exactly is the most impoverished individual on the face of the earth?
Who is the Poorest Person in the World?
There is a man named Jerome Kerviel who has the title of being the poorest individual in all of human history. He is the poorest of the 689 million people who live in extreme poverty on a daily income of $1.90 or less.
In the first place, determining who is the poorest person in the world is difficult because there are billions of people who are struggling to meet their basic necessities. However, if you rank people according to their debt, there is one individual who is at the very top of the list.
The events surrounding Jerome Kerviel are shocking and terrifying. Many people can’t stop thinking about what it would be like if a billionaire suddenly found themselves penniless. Many believe he is currently experiencing the consequences of his own actions.
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What Made Jerome Kerviel World’s Poorest Man?
Many people think Jerome Kerviel is going through what he deserves for his own actions. He owes $6.3 billion after committing $73 billion worth of illicit agreements, forgeries, and other nefarious acts. Therefore, Jerome Kerviel is the world’s most indebted individual and also the world’s poorest.
Having surrendered to French authorities, the former Societe Generale trader was sent to prison. In 2005, Jerome Kerviel worked for his bank’s Delta One division as a Junior Trader. This line of work encompasses programme trading, swaps, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), quantitative trading, and index futures.
What Were the Consequences of His Recklessness?
The Governor of the French Central Bank, Christian Noyer, referred to him as a “Computer Genius” in his appreciation. On the other hand, he used his computer skills in a careless manner, as he carried out $73 billion in unlawful transactions in addition to computer hacking.
On the other hand, by the 9th of January in 2008, Jerome Kerviel had accumulated a stock index futures position of US$73 billion, which resulted in a loss for Societe Generale (SocGen) of US$7.2 billion. On January 19, 2008, his superiors became aware of illegal trading that was connected to him.
He was engaging in arbitrage trading, which entails profiting from the fact that two stocks are trading at different prices when they ought to be trading at the same price. He was using these enormous sums of money to engage in arbitrage trading.
When the scam was found, he already owed the bank $6.3 billion, which is more than he will ever be able to pay back. Meanwhile, he had racked up large bets and losses before the fraud was discovered.
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How Long Was He Sentenced to Prison?
A Paris court has given the former Societe Generale trader and world’s poorest man a three-year prison term for his role in a trading scam. The judge also imposed a 4.9 billion euro ($6.8 billion) judgement against him, which he must pay to a French bank.
Since his arrest in 2008 for the fraud case, he has spent a total of three months in jail since 2010. He did not spend his full time behind bars; instead, he was released and placed under electronic ankle monitoring. Jerome Kerviel was surrounded by reporters and admirers the night he surrendered to the Menton police.
He has agreed to conducting the illegal trades, but claims the bank turned a blind eye when things were going well and turned on him when things went badly.
What Was Jerome Kerviel Net Worth?
Jerome Kerviel has a negative net worth of $6.7 billion, making him the world’s poorest person. He would be among the top 50 wealthiest Americans if his illegal trading obligations to the French bank Societe Generale were assets.
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What is the Global Poverty Rate?
More over one-third of the world’s population, or 1.89 billion people, are considered to be living below the poverty line. According to the research conducted by the World Bank, those with the lowest incomes on the planet have to make do with less than one dollar a day.
The multinational organisation gathers information about its members by conducting interviews at their homes. When the question of who the poorest person in the world is brought up in conversation, the worst-case scenario of a once-wealthy guy becoming destitute is brought up.
This is contrary to the common notion that this is not the case. If one’s level of wealth is an indicator, then Jerome Kerviel is the poorest person still living in the twenty-first century, and it’s possible that he will continue to hold this distinction for some time to come.