Jérôme Kerviel is often called the poorest person in the world — not because he sleeps on the street, but because he was once ordered to pay back €4.9 billion ($5.5 billion) to a French bank he had defrauded. No human being has ever been hit with a personal debt that large.
The figure has since been slashed to €1 million by a French court, but the original ruling is what powers the “world’s poorest man” headline (sources: CNN Business; Wikipedia).
Who Is Jérôme Kerviel?
Jérôme Kerviel was born on 11 January 1977 in Pont-l’Abbé, Brittany, France. He joined Société Générale (SocGen) in 2000 and by 2005 was a junior trader on the bank’s Delta One desk in Paris — a unit that handles index futures, ETFs and arbitrage between near-identical securities.
His job was small, low-risk arbitrage. The trades he actually placed were not.
How He Became “the World’s Poorest Man”
Between 2005 and January 2008, Kerviel built up unauthorised positions of €50 billion — bigger than the entire market value of Société Générale at the time. He hid the positions by entering matching fake trades in the bank’s risk system.
When the market turned in January 2008 and SocGen’s risk team unwound the positions, the bank crystallised a loss of €4.9 billion — the largest trading loss by a single rogue trader in history.
A Paris court in 2010 found Kerviel guilty of breach of trust, forgery and unauthorised use of the bank’s computer systems. He was sentenced to:
- 5 years in prison, with 2 years suspended
- Restitution of the full €4.9 billion to Société Générale
That €4.9 billion order is what made Kerviel famous as the poorest person on earth — no one before or since has been ordered to personally repay so much money.
What Happened Next
2014: Pope, pilgrimage, and surrender
After exhausting his appeals, Kerviel walked from Rome to Paris on a 1,400-km pilgrimage and met Pope Francis on the way. He surrendered to French police at the Italian border in May 2014 and started his sentence. He was released on parole in September 2014 and finished the rest under electronic tag.
2016: Debt cut by 99.98%
A French civil court reviewed Kerviel’s restitution and ruled that the €4.9 billion figure was unrealistic given his capacity to pay. In September 2016, the court cut the damages to €1 million — a 99.98% reduction. The court also held that Société Générale’s own internal control failures contributed to the losses, citing dozens of risk-system alerts the bank had ignored.
Today
Kerviel has worked as a consultant, written a book (L’engrenage, 2010), and continues to argue that SocGen knew about his trades while they were profitable and only “discovered” them when they turned. He is no longer the world’s poorest man on paper — but the original ruling earns him the unofficial title in folklore.
The “World’s Poorest” Title Is Not Official
There is no register of “poorest people in the world”. The phrase usually means one of three different things:
- Net worth (most negative): people with more debt than assets — Kerviel under the original ruling fits here
- Income poverty: people living on less than the World Bank’s $2.15-a-day extreme poverty line
- Multidimensional poverty: the UN’s measure across health, education, and living standards
Roughly 700 million people live in extreme income poverty today (source: World Bank). Most of them are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa.
Countries with the Most Extreme Poverty
The countries below have the highest extreme-poverty rates per the latest IMF, UN and World Bank data:
South Sudan
The world’s youngest country (independence 2011) and one of its poorest. Around 76% of South Sudanese live below the international poverty line. Conflict, displacement and climate shocks keep most rural households in chronic food insecurity.
Burundi
A landlocked, densely populated country in East Africa with extreme poverty above 70%. Stunting affects about half of all children under five. Drivers include population pressure, low agricultural productivity, climate vulnerability and weak access to clean water.
Central African Republic (CAR)
CAR sits near the bottom of the World Bank Human Capital Index. More than two in three citizens live in poverty, and over a decade of armed conflict has hollowed out public services. Recent gains in road and water infrastructure have begun in the south-west.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
The DRC is mineral-rich — it produces around 70% of global cobalt — yet about three in four Congolese live on less than $2.15 a day. The DRC is home to roughly one in six of all Africans living in extreme poverty.
Niger
Niger is at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index. The country has made real progress in school enrolment — from 11% in 1973 to over 60% today — but population growth, drought and the Sahel security crisis push poverty rates higher.
Somalia
Three decades of civil war and state collapse have left Somalia with extreme poverty above 70%. Around 70% of Somalis are under 30, and youth unemployment runs near two-thirds. Recurrent drought and food-price shocks compound the crisis.
Mali
A landlocked Sahelian state where roughly half the population lives in poverty. Around two-thirds of Malians work in agriculture along the Niger River; the rest of the country is desert or semi-desert. Insurgency in the north has displaced millions.
Chad
Chad’s economy depends on subsistence farming, fishing and oil. Roughly 40% of the population lives at or below the national poverty line, and climate change has shrunk Lake Chad to a fraction of its 1960s size.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the poorest person in the world?
By personal-debt definition, Jérôme Kerviel — originally ordered in 2010 to repay €4.9 billion to Société Générale. The court reduced the order to €1 million in 2016, but the original ruling is what gives him the title.
Is Jérôme Kerviel still in prison?
No. He served part of his sentence in custody starting May 2014 and finished the remainder on electronic tag.
How much does Kerviel owe Société Générale today?
€1 million, after the 2016 civil court reduction.
How many people live in extreme poverty worldwide?
About 700 million people live below the World Bank’s extreme-poverty line of $2.15 a day.
Which is the poorest country in the world?
By GDP per capita and extreme-poverty rate, South Sudan and Burundi consistently rank at the bottom of IMF and World Bank tables.
What was Kerviel’s original sentence?
Five years in prison (with two suspended), plus restitution of €4.9 billion — later cut to €1 million.
Did Société Générale know about the trades?
A French court found that SocGen’s internal controls failed and ignored multiple risk alerts. The bank still received compensation, but the court reduced Kerviel’s personal liability sharply.
Also See: Top 10 Currencies in Africa