Back in the day, it was a rich man’s game to finance ships going on ambitious trade routes. It basically created the concept of the stock market with the VOC. If you had money, a lot of money, you could hire a ship or even have one built, hire a crew, buy provisions, load it with local goods and send it to exotic places to trade those goods for spices, tulip bulbs, goods or (let’s not be gentle on history) slaves. If you were particularly savvy you could combine several stops on several continents, and maximize profits the moment your ship returned (as somebody pointed out: your ship had come in). That way, you could turn a lot of money into an absolute fuckton of money. But of course your ship could sink, get attacked by pirates, simply get lost at sea or everybody could die of scurvy. This would often bankrupt the financer. It was a high stakes high reward and high risk game.
However you might have heard the name Lloyd referenced at some point when it comes to shipping. In the 17th century, Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house in London where ship owners, merchants, etc. could come together to insure ships and cargoes. This was such a big business that to this day, Lloyds of London is a powerhouse collection of marine insurance brokers. To quote Wikipedia:
>In 2023 there were 78 syndicates managed by 51 “managing agencies” that collectively wrote £52.1bn of gross premiums on risks placed by 381 registered brokers.
Keep in mind that shipping was 99% trade. It was rarely “your” stuff getting lost at sea, and mostly luxury goods. Like indeed pineapples. People would invite the whole town over to come look at their pineapple and show off they could afford one.
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