Rogue trader a Facebook hero
2008-01-28 08:50
Paris - Jerome Kerviel's handful of
internet friends might have melted into the ether after he was
accused of committing the biggest fraud in banking history, but
he has found thousands of new fans in cyberspace.
The 31-year-old trader had 11 friends visible on the
Facebook.com networking website when news broke on Thursday he
had been blamed for a seven billion dollar loss at France's Societe Generale bank. Within 24 hours that number had dropped to one.
At the same time newfound admirers and comics filled the
Facebook void, creating three fake profiles of the previously
anonymous derivatives trader and 21 support groups.
One of the groups is named "Jerome Kerviel should be awarded
the Nobel Prize in Economics", and had attracted 1 209 members
from around the world by Sunday morning. A straight forward
"Jerome Kerviel FanClub" drew 865 members.
Another more ambitious group was named "If five billion persons
join this group and give one euro we save Jerome Kerviel career".
It had just 455 members by Sunday, suggesting the Frenchman had
some way to go before salvaging his job.
Kerviel handed himself over to police on Saturday and faced
48 hours of questioning before prosecutors decide whether to
open formal legal proceedings against him.
For many web surfers the verdict was already in.
"Jerome le champion!!!" wrote Nazih Saade from Canada,
"Congratulations Jerome we're with you!" said Miles McKernan
from Spain, "God damn it, Jerome is the man," said Hussein Tiba
from Lebanon. "Jerome Kerviel is the Che Guevara of finance!"
Sebastien Philippe said in a post from Luxembourg.
Although market analysts and bankers said the scandal had
dealt a sharp blow to France's reputation as a financial centre
of excellence, many internauts saw a funny side to the saga -
especially those from beyond French borders.
"Finally a French record in finance!" wrote Sebastian
Jousten from Belgium, a longstanding butt of French jokes.
One English-language joke doing the rounds on the web poked
fun at France's 35-hour work week, saying this had "created
unbearable levels of stress" for the youthful trader.
"Kerviel was known to start work as early as nine in the
morning and still be at his desk at five or even five-thirty,
often with just an hour and a half for lunch," said the
witticism, posted on numerous sites.
Enterprising souls grabbed the jeromekerviel.com web domain
and suggested the detained banker might have a future as an
agony aunt. "Are you trading under pressure? Jerome understands.
Send your story now ... confidentiality is assured," it says.
Someone else set up a lighthearted "jerometherogue" blog.
"So here I am, one of the most popular names on the
internet, coming in a close second to some porn star no doubt.
... Well at least some are saying I'm good looking. I guess one
has to be grateful for small mercies at a time like this."