Sublime

The monopoly-for-loan idea certainly was ingenious.

Simply put, without Ivar Kreuger, modern securities regulation and litigation would not exist.

Morgan’s famous testimony to Congress that character came before money or property.

The lesson of Ivar Kreuger is not that his businesses were illegal. It is that they were alegal.

Given these facts - and they were facts - Berning was reluctant to accuse such a reputable man of anything. He told himself Garanta wasn’t important. It couldn’t be.

While Jack Morgan was ensuring that he would have a direct bedroom-to-deck path on his new yacht, Ivar had tiptoed into the deal of the century.

Ivar seemed to have memorized the assets, liabilities, income, and expenses of every one of his subsidiaries, quarter by quarter. He could recite those numbers from memory.