Compagnie du Mississippi

The Compagnie du Mississippi, reorganized in 1717 by the Scottish financier John Law, held a monopoly over French Louisiana and absorbed France’s other colonial trading companies. Tied to Law’s Banque Royale, which printed paper money, the company became the engine of an experiment to refinance the crown’s debt. Speculation drove its shares from 500 to roughly 10,000 livres in 1719-1720, minting the first “millionaires.” When confidence cracked in 1720 the bubble collapsed, paper money became worthless, and Law fled France. The wreckage soured France on banknotes for generations.