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Jan Schoch lost the bulk of his fortune, his job and the firm he co-founded – within weeks of each other. The Swiss finance whiz kid's dramatic October, traced by finews.asia.

The high-flying plans came to an end in a succinct statement two weeks ago: Flynt Bank, am ambitious digital wealth manager for the ultra-rich set up by fintech wunderkind Jan Schoch, had relinquished its banking license.

At 42, Schoch's career sprint to the top of finance is in tatters: his fortune, once worth 100 million Swiss francs, has shrivelled; Leonteq, the firm once controlled by Schoch, is now in the hands of former associates, and all that remains of the promise of his new start-up, Flynt, is an empty shell.

Unyielding, Controlling

His fall to earth is largely self-induced, as finews.asia has previously chronicled. A native of Switzerland's historic Appenzell region, Schoch is without a doubt a visionary entrepreneur who has a role to play in designing the future of finance.

But he is also an uncompromising control freak who gambled bit financially – and lost. His latest bet has left him with vast personal and financial losses, finews.asia has learned. Schoch didn't comment for this story.

Juggling Balls

Schoch was juggling several balls at the same time: as CEO at Leonteq, he faced a colossal spending bill and industry partnerships which were slow to emerge. At Flynt, he was forced to keep delaying the start date because the firm hadn't yet clinched the coveted license from regulator Finma.

At home in Appenzell, Schoch was funding property and hotel projects. Closer to home, he and his wife divorced early this year.

In July, the situation came to a head: a Leonteq executive sold more than 4 million Swiss francs worth of stock, according to a regulatory disclosure by exchange operator SIX. The seller was Schoch, according to several sources familiar with the matter. The CEO needed funds for Flynt, where Schoch pumped 3 million francs into the firm to bring its share capital to 28 million francs.

Catastrophic Error

At that time, Flynt had just clinched a long-sought bank license. Against opposition from inside the firm, Schoch had insisted that the start-up needed to launch as a bank – a catastrophic error, it turned out.

In October, Schoch was dismissed as Leonteq CEO by his board. The radical step was linked with his high-stakes – personally and financially – engagement over at Flynt, which the board frowned on.

Cash Needed

By mid-October, just six weeks after Flynt launched, Schoch lobbed the next grenade: he blindsided board and management with the news that he was dramatically short of cash. In order to salvage Flynt's future, he proposed selling out.