"I ask Dave if he always knew Nick [Denton] would be a success. 'The last time I was asked this by a newspaper I said I knew Nick was going to be successful because he read The Economist when he was 13. When [that comment] was published Nick phoned me up and took the piss out of me for it, said it made me sound suburban. So this time I'm going to say it's a fucking miracle he ever amounted to anything.'"

There was something distinctly calculating about Nick. He was famous for not committing to a Friday- or Saturday-night plan unless he could be certain that he had alighted upon the best option. As a result, if you ended up at the same bar or party as him, you were left with the sense you were in the right place, which was both reassuring and profoundly irritating.

...

Eventually he returned to London to cover investment banking, and was the lead reporter on the collapse of Barings Bank, breaking the story about the secret 8888 account where rogue trader Nick Leeson had hidden his losses. I ask him if that experience as a journalist informed what he does now. 'I don't know,' he says, helpfully. 'I'm not very reflective.'

[Observer UK]