Study Identifies 17th-Century Dutch Mutineer as First Corporate Psychopath
A new study by Clive Boddy of Anglia Ruskin University identifies Jeronimus Cornelisz, a 17th-century Dutch East India Company official, as history's first documented corporate psychopath. Analyzing the 1629 Batavia shipwreck, Boddy argues Cornelisz exhibited all ten core traits of modern corporate psychopathy, including manipulation and fear-based control. The research suggests toxic leadership behaviors have existed since the dawn of modern capitalism.