Jacob Cornelisz van Neck

Jacob Cornelisz van Neck was a Dutch naval officer and explorer who led the second Dutch expedition to Indonesia from 1598 to 1599 which resulted in a tremendous success.

Born in a merchant family, Jacob was chosen to lead a second Dutch expedition to Indonesia in 1598 with the aim to obtain lucrative spices. As a head of the large merchant fleet comprising of eight vessels, Jacob left port of Texel in May 1598 and after seventh months travel, he reached Indonesian city of Bantam. He loaded the ships with spices and returned to Holland carrying nearly one million pounds of pepper and cloves, in addition to half a ship full of nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon.

The expedition was more than profitable as it earned the investors a 400 percent return on their investment. Van Neck took part in one more expedition and retired from exploring after that. In later period of his life he became a mayor of Amsterdam, and alderman, and a member of two admiralty colleges.