He was a commodity broker, and 'earned several hundred thousand' pounds a year before starting his own metals trading business.

In later life, she was a commodity broker.

This penchant for obsessively assessing chance ultimately made him a multimillionaire commodities broker (soybeans were his speciality).

By his own estimate, after just four years in the business he had become one of the seven most influential commodity brokers in the world.

Before involving herself in cryptocurrency, she says she was, variously, a professional songwriter, a dance troupe leader and a commodities broker.