kreuger

Secretive and aloof, Kreuger, like Madoff, built his mystique by playing hard to get and retreating into a tight little zone of privacy.

John Maynard Keynes extolled Kreuger as "perhaps the greatest constructive business intelligence of his age. "

The American connection was all-important to Kreuger because of a daring plan he had concocted to take over the world match industry.

In 1923, Kreuger set up a new firm called International Match to act as a conduit for that money.

Kreuger & Toll also earned a reputation as a proficient builder that completed construction projects reliably and on time.

As rumors spread about his troubles, Kreuger became increasingly reclusive, avoiding meetings with bankers and auditors.

Kreuger was a virtuoso at financial shell games, shuffling assets from one subsidiary to another to produce the desired results.

In March, 1932, at the age of fifty-two, Ivar Kreuger left his Paris apartment and bought a 9-mm. Browning pistol.

And, no less than Ponzi, Kreuger had also deceived himself.

As a financial manipulator, however, Kreuger deserves study.

Annual returns in the match industry fluctuated wildly, denying Kreuger the steady high earnings he needed.

As Kreuger slipped deeper into debt and deceit, his personality became impenetrable.

Frank Partnoy, as a fair-minded biographer, renders a mixed verdict on Ivar Kreuger.

Kreuger had previously skirted the rules but, technically speaking, didn't engage in outright fraud.

By early 1932, the gates of the New York credit markets had slammed shut for Ivar Kreuger.

Unlike the Madoff scandal, Kreuger's downfall didn't leave investors completely bereft.

By late 1927, Kreuger had parlayed his scheme into match monopolies in nearly a dozen countries.

At times, he pretended to field calls from Mussolini or Stalin.

If Birgitta is the patron saint of Europe, Kreuger was the patron saint of sinners