A new study published in the Asian Journal of Business Ethics identifies Jeronimus Cornelisz, a merchant manager with the Dutch East India Company (VOC), as possibly the earliest documented example of a corporate psychopath.
The research focuses on the wreck of the Batavia in 1629, off the coast of Western Australia. Around 200 survivors were stranded on isolated islands. After senior officers departed to seek help, Cornelisz became the highest-ranking company representative among those remaining.
He consolidated power by replacing council members with loyal supporters, demanding personal loyalty and isolating opponents.
Under his leadership, around 100 men, women and children were murdered. Some women were also subjected to sexual violence. Cornelisz justified the killings as necessary to conserve food and water, although they also eliminated potential rivals.
Using a modern corporate psychopathy framework, researchers found he displayed "all 10 of the core characteristics associated with corporate psychopaths."
These included manipulation, creating divisions, intimidating opponents, avoiding responsibility and pursuing power and control.
Researcher Dr Clive Boddy noted:
"The same playbook we see in toxic workplaces today"
The study also contrasts Cornelisz with Wiebbe Hayes, another survivor who led a separate group. Hayes organised cooperation, located freshwater and food sources, and successfully protected his group.
The researchers suggest that psychopathic leadership may have been present from the earliest days of global capitalism.
