http://hereisthecity.com/2011/09/21/24-traders-who-were-responsible-for-losing-money/ Here’s a list of traders who allegedly made, or were ultimately responsible for, some of the biggest losing trades ever made. Note - this is NOT a list of rogue traders, just a list of traders who allegedly made / were responsible for large losing bets. Some of the traders, however, have been accused / found guilty of unauthorized trading. 1. Howie Hubler - $9bn (est) Morgan Stanley (Credit Default Swaps), 2008 2. Brian Hunter - $6.5bn (est) Amaranth Advisors (Gas futures), 2006 3. Jerome Kerviel - $5.9bn (est) Societe Generale (European index futures), 2008 4. John Meriwether and team - $4.6bn (est) Long Term Capital Management, (Interest rate and equity derivatives), 1998 5. Yasuo Hamanaka - $2.6bn (est) Sumitomo Corporation (Copper futures), 1996 6. Kweku Adoboli - $2.3bn (est) UBS (Delta 1 Trading Desk), 2011 7. Frances Yung - $2bn (est) Citic Pacific (FX), 2008 8. Heinz Schimmelbusch - $1.6bn (est) Metallgesellscahft (Oil futures), 1993 9. Nick Leeson - $1.4bn (est) Barings (Nikkei futures), 1995 10. Toshihide Iguchi - $1.1bn (est) Daiwa Bank (Bonds), 1995 12. David Lee, Kevin Cassidy - $800m (est) Bank of Montreal (Natural gas options), 2007 12. Friedhelm Breuers - $800m (est) WestLB (Equities), 2007 14. John Rusnak - $700m (est) Allied Irish Bank (Currencies), 2002 14. Peter Young- $700m (est) Morgan Grenfell (Equities), 1997 16. David Askin - $600m (est) Askin Capital Management (Mortgage-Backed Securities), 1994 17. Ramy Goldstein - $500m (est) UBS (Derivatives), 1998 18. Joseph Jett - $400m (est) Kidder Peabody (UST-Bills), 1994 19. Howard A Rubin - $377m (est) Merrill Lynch (Mortgages) 20. Richard Bierbaum - $350m (est) Calyon (Credit indices), 2007 21. Luke Duffy, David Bullen, Vince Ficarra, Gianni Gray - $300m (est) National Australia Bank (Currencies), 2004 22. Kyriacos Papouis - $250m (est) NatWest Markets (Options), 1997 23. Matt Piper - $120m (est) Morgan Stanley (credit – index options), 2008 24. Alksandar Adamovic - $100m (est) Carnegie Investment Bank (Equity Derivatives), 2007
Anything under a few hundred Mil isn’t too bad, I’ve seen plenty of prop desks that fluctuate between +500 and -500 all the time.