This overview of the financial history of St John's College, Oxford from the College's foundation in 1555 up until 1980 documents in detail how the richest college in Oxford very nearly lost everything. As well as providing a window on the past, Intellectual Capital also gives historical perspective to challenges the College faces today. Drawing on three main data sources - including the College's own archives and the Ministry of Housing and local government records available at the National Archives - Intellectual Capital establishes a quantitative overview of College's financial history and investigates in depth the financial decision-making behind, and consequences of, the development of North Oxford. Despite St John's' extensive records and a more varied financial history than almost any other Oxbridge college, this is the first time the finances of St John's have received such detailed attention.