John Law

Born in Scotland in 1671, Law was a gambler with a head for probability who killed a man in a duel, was sentenced to death, and escaped to the continent. He studied economics and befriended Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who became regent for the child-king Louis XV in 1715. The next year Philippe let him open a private bank that issued notes against gold deposits; by 1718 it was the Banque royale. In 1717 Law launched the Mississippi company to exploit Louisiana and other French colonies, and by 1720 he was Controller General of Finances - the richest man in Europe. The stock boom collapsed that same year; Law fled France and drifted through European cities until he died in Venice in 1729, broke. His system failed as policy but lived on as an early trial of fiat money, its fundamental soundness still argued over.