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The Lex Greensill Billion Dollar Scandal

What if I told that you that Credit Suisse, one of the worlds most foundational banks was brought to it’s knees largely because of a charismatic bogan playing posh from Bundaberg…

Lex Greensill roped in figures the likes of (Brexit instigator) David Cameron to Rishi Sunak to even Vision Fund, Uber and WeCrashed Japanese investor, Masoyoshi Son.

The full story of how Lex, the bullied outsider from rural Queensland talked and awkwarded his way into the central halls of power is immense.

Duncan Mavin (investigative journalist) wrote and pieced together the incredible journey, and he documents it top to bottom on this podcast. #153 of ‘The Curious Worldview Podcast’ with Duncan Mavin.

Or a link to the book here.

Forward this email or share this podcast episode with someone who you reckon would get a kick out of a Bundaberg upstart taking down the world of finance.

Here is a transcript of the opening exchange from the conversation…

Ryan

All right, mate, has your proximity to Lex ruined how you relate to Australians?

Duncan

No, not at all. Not at all. I have a few good Australian friends and actually Australian family as well. So definitely not.

Ryan

Did you end up spending much time in Bundaberg or Sydney in research for this book?

Duncan 

In Bundaberg, no, I didn't. No, I didn't at all. I am told that the book is very well read there. I believe it's sold out there. And I'm also told it's kind of divided the community. There's some people who've done very well out of Greensill Farming, which has received an awful lot of money from Greensill Capital. And so those people, I think, are very supportive of Lex and his family. And then there are a whole bunch of other people who,

feel like they didn't do so well out of it, who are farmers whose farms were squeezed by green cell farming, and they feel pretty upset about what happened.

Ryan 

It's just such a stark contrast and subversion of your expectations of what a Bogan from rural Queensland would aspire to. The idea that, you know, he wanted to be knighted in the UK and wanted to be in the top class drinking the fanciest champagne. It's so opposite to what I would expect from a fella from Bundaberg.

Duncan 

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's right. I think Lex, so my understanding of Lex as a kid was that he was sort of, you know, bullied a little bit. He was not a very big kid. It was a very kind of rough and tumble place to grow up. And he was on the other hand, quite intellectual. And that was how he saw his way out. Right. So he kind of his brains were his way out.

And then I think he realized or he believed that actually to make a lot of money, he had to sort of portray himself as a guy who came from, you know, the right side of the tracks as it were, or, you know, could mix with the wealthy upper class, uh, kind of finance people and politicians in the UK. And so it, it's definitely odd, right? It definitely means he stood out. Um,

But he was kind of starting out from quite an early age. You know, I know now, since I wrote the book, I probably know more people in Bundaberg than I did before I wrote the book. And I know now that at school, he was already, you know, as a fairly young kid, he was kind of dressing in a way that other people found was odd. So an example is he was a leading light in the debating club at school.

and where the other guys would show up to the club in Bundaberg in shorts and t-shirts, cause it's like subtropical or whatever it is. Um, Lex would show up like in a stiff shirt and you know, long trousers. And you know, this is kind of when he's like 12, 13, and was already regarded as a little bit odd for that.

Ryan 

Interesting. Do you know where in, in talking to people from Bundaberg and being the recipient of anecdotes such as that, have you come to a understanding for where Lex just got his intense ambition from?

……. continue the conversation with the podcast here.