Who is the UBS Rogue Trader? Social Media Has the Answers

By Hao Li | September 17 2011 4:48 PM

Kweku Adoboli is now famously known as the allegedly rogue trader of UBS who lost $2 billion on unauthorized trades.

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The rogue trader who allegedly lost $2 billion at UBS is London resident Kweku Adoboli.

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In this age of social media, Adoboli's social media accounts (before they were taken down) provided much of the public's information on him. His Facebook postings may even have hinted at trouble before the authorities made their arrest.

Below is what the public knows so far about Adoboli, with much of the information gathered from social media Web sites.

Professional Background

Adoboli was director of ETFs and Delta-1 Trading at UBS Investment Bank, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was responsible for making markets for ETFs, according to the Telegrpah.

Records suggest that he was hired by UBS in 2006 as a trainee and graduated from the University of Nottingham, according to the Telegraph.

He made around £200,000 a year plus up to £400,000 more in bonuses, sources told the Daily Mail.

Personal Background

Adoboli, a native of Ghana, is 31 years old. He is the son of a retired UN worker, according to the Daily Mail.

He was a work-hard, play-hard trader, according to the Daily Mail, citing unnamed sources.

The Financial Times reported that Adoboli has a girlfriend who is a doctor.

FT also reported that he appears to have embraced cultural life in the city's East End, calling himself a fan on Facebook of The Boundary complex of restaurants and bars in the Shoreditch neighbourhood.

Airing Woes on Facebook

Before his arrest last week, Adobli posted two messages on Facebook that perhaps indicated something was wrong.

One was Need a Miracle and another was Can we shut down global markets for a week so everyone can just chill out?

Adoboli, of course, could just be ranting about the high volatility seen in the global markets in the last few weeks.

Fast Money

Abodoli followed Guy Adami, Joe Terranova, Pete Najarian, and Jon Najarian - all regulars on CNBC's Fast Money - on his Twitter account, reported the New York Observer.

On his Facebook page, he lists himself a fan of The Wire and counts photography as one of his interests, reported FT.