Jeronimus Cornelisz, a merchant manager for the Dutch East India Company in the early 1600s, is believed to be the world’s earliest recorded example of a psychopathic corporate leader, according to recent research. The study, led by Dr. Clive Boddy, an associate professor of management at Anglia Ruskin University, linked Cornelisz’s actions to traits commonly associated with modern corporate psychopaths, including a ruthless pursuit of power and control, manipulation, and use of fear.

The Dutch East India Company, established in the early 17th century, is widely recognized as the world’s first multinational shareholder corporation and was instrumental in founding one of the first stock exchanges in Amsterdam in 1602. Its expansion during the age of early capitalism provides the backdrop for this historical case.

The researchers examined the 1629 Batavia shipwreck off the coast of Western Australia, where about 200 survivors found themselves stranded on remote islands. With most senior officers departing to seek rescue, Cornelisz was left as the highest-ranking figure among those remaining. Over the following months, Cornelisz orchestrated a campaign of murder, killing approximately 100 men, women, and children. He rationalized the killings as necessary to conserve limited food and water supplies.

Historical records show Cornelisz consolidated his authority by replacing council members with loyalists, demanding oaths of loyalty and eliminating rivals through violence. The study also documents that women were subjected to sexual violence under his control. Cornelisz’s leadership style, the researchers argue, aligns with behaviors identified in toxic workplace environments today, including fostering fear, rewarding allegiance, and manipulating followers.

In contrast, a separate group of survivors led by Wiebbe Hayes, who were marooned on a different island, managed to build a cooperative community. Hayes organized efforts to locate freshwater wells and secure food sources such as seabird eggs, fish, wallabies, and seals. Hayes’s followers reportedly found sufficient provisions to sustain them indefinitely. Dr. Boddy described the divergent outcomes as a "natural experiment in leadership," highlighting how different approaches under similar pressures led to either survival and cooperation or violence and abuse.

The study characterizes the Batavia mutiny and subsequent killings as among the most brutal episodes in corporate, naval, and Australian history. It underscores the persistent challenges posed by corporate psychopaths, who continue to contribute to workplace bullying, harassment, high turnover, and organisational decline. The findings were published in the Asian Journal of Business Ethics and serve as a reminder of how greed and the pursuit of profit have been intertwined since the earliest days of shareholder capitalism.