If you’ve intuited by now that the people at the very top of the corporate hierarchy are complete and utter wackos who have little regard for human life, you’d probably think that there’s just something about the version of the corporate CEO that came around sometime during the Industrial Revolution that is uniquely psychopathic.
A research team publishing their findings in the Asian Journal of Business Ethics, however, found that corporate psychopathy is nothing new, since there is strong evidence of a maniac fostering a toxic workplace dating back to 1629.
And of course, they were an executive with the Dutch East India Company, one of the old world’s foremost examples of a corporation run amok.
Jeronimus Cornelisz was an under-merchant for the Dutch East India Company and a contender for the worst boss in recorded history. When the company’s flagship, Batavia, hit a reef near Western Australia, senior management hopped into a longboat to go get help, leaving Cornelisz in charge of roughly 200 stranded survivors. What followed was absolute chaos and insanity that ended with mutiny and massacre, as Cornelisz immediately initiated a hostile takeover.
The Hallmark Traits of a Corporate Psychopath
According to study author Clive Boddy of Anglia Ruskin University, Cornelisz ticked off all ten hallmark traits of a modern corporate psychopath, which are…
Not being in it to help, but for the attainment of money and power.
Use superficial charm to gain trust.
Surround themselves with loyalists and yes-men.
Clear the path of anyone who might challenge them.
Create division among enemies.
Create a climate of fear.
Refuse to take responsibility when all of their bad ideas inevitably blow up in their face.
Cornelisz met all 10 criteria, and he did so by purging the existing island council, replacing them with loyal lackeys who swore personal oaths to him, and exiled potential whistleblowers to nearby islands so they could starve to death. To stretch out the remaining water and food, he ordered his goons to systematically murder around 100 men, women and children, all while subjecting women to sexual abuse and hoarding the ship’s gold inside his personal tent so he could start a pirate empire.
It’s Not All Bad, Though
In the midst of all of Cornelisz’s chaos, the exact kind of person Cornelisz thought he was rose to power — a soldier named Wiebbe Hayes. Cornelisz had left Wiebbe and his group stranded on an island. The group found freshwater to drink and plenty of food to eat. They eventually fought off Cornelisz’s gang until a rescue ship arrived.
As Clive Boddy explained, “Perhaps the most striking finding is that another leader facing the same circumstances achieved completely different outcomes. Hayes built cooperation, discovered new resources and kept people alive. This was effectively a natural experiment in leadership. One group prospered while the other descended into murder and abuse.”
As for Cornelisz, his insane lust for power did not end well for him. Authorities chopped off his hands and hanged him by the neck. Goes to show that corporate psychopaths like him have been making life miserable for people for centuries, and while they have their fun for a time, it ultimately rarely ends well for people like him.
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