Willem (Willam) I, the first Orange prince who ruled as king of the Netherlands, founded the Dutch national bank, partly to provide him and the state lost of credit. He hadn't been able to find the founding capital without the widow Borski, a shopkeeper's daughter who inherited a small self-made fortune from a brewer's son turned financial wheeler-dealer and launched the firm, formerly led by their son Willem and accountant, in banking, one of many daring, often successful investments. The king also founded a general (mainly colonial) trading company, with obligation to pay out profits beyond its income, enabling vast projects of national interest, which alas incurred severe losses. When it risked sinking, the widow provided another vast l credit to avoid her and the rial shares in it become worthless, and thus helped prevent a national bankruptcy.
—KGF Vissers