Nick Leeson's Biography

Nick Leeson was born on 25th February 1967.

Leeson was jailed in Singapore during the middle of the 1990s after losing about £850m of Barings' money, that ultimately led to the collapse of the Bank, one of the City of London's most blue-blooded institutions.

Barings was bought for £1, by the Dutch banking and insurance group ING.

Originally a star trader, the markets started turning against him and Leeson dug himself further and further into a hole.

When Barings carried out a spot audit in February 1995, they found giant losses that roughly equated to the entire assets of the bank.

Nick Leeson had hidden his losses in an account 'Error Account 88888'.

When he was discovered, Nick Leeson and his wife at the time, Lisa, did a runner, but the authorities eventually caught up with Leeson in Germany and he was extradited to Singapore.

Sentenced to six and a half years in jail, he was released from prison in 1999, after being diagnosed with cancer of the colon.

Subsequently Leeson wrote an autobiography 'Rogue Trader', which was made into a film starring Ewan McGregor.

In April 2005 Nick Leeson was appointed commercial director of Galway Football Club. In contrast to the £850m Leeson lost at Barings, it was reported that he will have a budget of £500,000.

Nick Leeson is a keen poker player.

After his wife, Lisa, left him, Nick Leeson married a beautician, Leona.

In 2005, Nick Leeson wrote a book on stress management, Back from the Brink.

In January 2011, Nick Leeson resigned from his position as CEO of Galway United.

In 2013, Leeson joined GDP Partnership to mediate on behalf of distressed borrowers with debts over 1m Euros to find the best outcome for bank and borrower.

In August 2018, Nick Leeson became one of the housemates on Celebrity Big Brother.