The final defeat of Jon Corzine, Wall Street’s 'Comeback Kid'

Jon Corzine - the one-time governor of New Jersey - was the first victim of the eurozone debt crisis when MF Global collapsed. Was that the last ride of Wall Street's 'Comeback Kid'?

In his 1990s heyday at Goldman Sachs, Jon Corzine occasionally shocked colleagues by greeting them with the word "peace". It was hardly in tune with the Goldman ethos, but Corzine has at least remained consistent. His resignation letter from MF Global last week was "a classic of its kind", says The Times. Corzine expressed "great sadness for what has transpired" as if he had nothing to do with the giant bets that caused the seventh largest bankruptcy in American history. Peace to you, Jon, but sometimes "sorry" isn't good enough.

The speed of the broker-dealer's collapse was shocking (see below), marking a "stunning reversal and spectacular defeat" for Corzine, who "thought he could turn MF Global into an investment bank rivalling Goldman Sachs" when he took it on in 2010, says the FT. A former governor of New Jersey, he was a prominent figure in the Obama camp tipped by some to take over from US Treasury boss Tim Geithner. He now stands accused of breaking every risk-management rule in the book possibly with clients' money. "Sometimes it seems there are two Jon Corzines," says Reuters. There's the "statesmanlike" politician, prone to pious speeches about the need for stiffer bank regulation; and then there's the "risk-loving trader with a thirst for profits".

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