Imagine this scenario: You invest $1. Other people deposit $50. You take $51 to a Las Vegas roulette table and bet it all on black. 50-50 chance there's $10

Imagine this scenario: You invest $1. Other people deposit $50. You take $51 to a Las Vegas roulette table and bet it all on black. 50-50 chance there's $102 afterwards and shareholders and employees get to share most of the $51 gain; 50-50 chance there's $0. Taking outsized risks with other peoples' money is a great gig for both stockholders and executives. We normally prohibit financial services firm from engaging in this kind of behavior, because the economic incentives favor outsized risk.