Chapter 67: Collapse of the Soviet Union (5)
Nick Leeson thought:
“I'm fucked.”
He had massively, royally screwed himself.
He should’ve stuck to selling options like a good little trader instead of messing around with weird crap like CDS or whatever.
The moment news broke that a coup had erupted in the Soviet Union, the stock market imploded. Naturally, Nick—who’d sold options on both sides—took on catastrophic losses.
“Mr. Leeson! Is... is this really okay?”
A staffer asked, their nerves on edge. Even while panicking inside, Leeson reflexively spat out a confident answer.
“It’s fine. A few of the contracts are near maturity, and besides, the coup’s pretty lackluster so far. If anything, the market’s just overpricing the risk right now. This is actually a great opportunity.”
“Ah...”
They didn’t really buy it—but hey, he was Nick Leeson, so they nodded with a face that screamed well, I guess I trust the guy...
Was it actually going to be fine?
No. But it had to be fine.