The Match Maker Who Nearly Burned Down Wall Street

About this episode

The episode explores the rise and fall of Ivar Kreuger, a Swedish entrepreneur known as 'The Match King' and his impact on Wall Street and modern financial safeguards.

Swedish entrepreneur Ivar Kreuger built a fortune selling matches. He used this money to build a world famous financial empire that bankrolled whole countries. France borrowed from Kreuger. Germany borrowed from Krueger. He was crowned "The Match King" and ruled Wall Street in the 1920s.  But Kreuger's business was about to burn to the ground. The Swede had been using shady - even criminal - methods to move money around his empire and the good times came to an end. The discovery of Kreuger's crimes created chaos, but also proved pivotal in the creation of America's modern financial safeguards.   Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fm See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Pushkin Industries

Topics covered

• entrepreneurship
• financial history
• Wall Street
• Ivar Kreuger
• financial scandals
• economic impact

Keywords

• Ivar Kreuger
• Match King
• Wall Street
• financial empire
• financial scandals
• economic history
• 1920s

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: France, Germany, Wall Street

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