The trading world has produced many successful traders over the years. But there are a few names that have left a permanent mark in the financial industry. These individuals have demonstrated exceptional skills, insights, and the ability to trade under any market conditions.
While it is difficult to define the “greatest” trader, there are several notable figures who have achieved remarkable success in this field.
Become a successful trader, it requires hard work and dedication. It’s the passion that drives you closer to success. If you dream to be as successful as the world’s greatest traders, you should take the help of tradenation. It is a trusted website to get you started with trading.
In this post, we are going to discuss some of the legendary people who conquered the financial markets with their incredible trading skills.
Top Successful Traders in The World
Here is the list of the world’s most successful traders:
- George Soros
George Soros is the man who broke the British Pound. He is rightfully known as the “King of Forex Trading.” Born as Gyorgy Schwartz, he and his family had to change their names to survive the Nazi torcher during the WW2 period. To escape the Nazi radar, Soros relocated to England, where he worked odd jobs to make ends meet. At that time, no one would have predicted his rise.
After completing his graduation, he secured a job as a merchant banker at Singer and Friedlander. This was the start of his trading journey. He later settled in the US and worked at a brokerage firm on Wall Street. After years of hard work, he finally established his own hedge fund company called Quantum, in 1970.
His most notable trade happened in 1990, the year he broke the British Pound. A few years before the trade happened, he kept purchasing the British Pound. When the value of the pound started falling, he shorted all the pounds he had accumulated before. He made a profit of $1 billion out of this trade. He used a similar trading plan in 1997, during the ASEAN financial crash. This time his target was the Indonesian, Singaporean, and Philippines currencies.
Outside trading, Soros is a philanthropist. Despite donating 80% of his wealth, his current net worth is still $8.6 billion.
- Paul Tudor Jones
Paul Tudor Jones is one of the greatest hedge fund managers in the world. However, he was not always a rich man. He began his career in the 1970s. Back then he worked as a clerk at Eli Tullis. But he lost his job because of falling asleep at his desk.
In 1980, he started his own hedge fund company called Tudor Futures Fund. The most surprising thing about the firm is that it managed to generate 100% returns during the first 5 years of its operation.
Tudor became famous after shorting a few stocks before the 1987 market crash. This helped him earn $100 million. Plus, he was labeled as Black Monday Prophet. After five years of this victory, he became the chair of the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).
Based on verified sources, Tudor’s current net worth is $5 billion. He founded the Robin Hood Foundation through which he carried out his philanthropic works.
- Jesse Livermore
When talking about the most successful traders in the world, we cannot miss Jesse Livermore. Born in a farmer’s house, it was destined for him to walk the same path. But Livermore begged to differ and ran away from his house to escape his fate.
He began posting quotes at the age of 15. At that time, he was living in Boston. It was during this time that he earned his first profit. He invested $5 and gained $3.12 out of it. Realizing his potential as a trader, he started investing more money. He became so good at trading that he decided to quit his job and become a full-time trader.
He used to place bets from Bucket Shops. After getting banned from there, he started trading on Wall Street but made a huge loss. He got his big break at 24 years when he gained $500,000 out of $10,000. By the age of 30, he was already a multi-millionaire, earning a good amount from trading.
In 1915, he went broke not once, but twice. Despite all the failures, he was at the top of his game. After WW1, he started investing in cotton to take control of the market. His most notable trade took place during the 1929 market crash. He took several shorts and gained around $100 million.
Livermore failed quite a few times in his career. But what made him different is his ability to recover even after going broke three times in his life. However, he couldn’t deal with his third bankruptcy and committed suicide.
- Steve Cohen
Next up, we have Steve Cohen, who came from an economics background. He began his career in the 1970s when he worked for Gruntal, a well-known investment banking company. On his first day, he made around $8000 a day, which gradually increased to $10,000 per day.
In 1992, he quit his job at Gruntal to establish his own hedge fund company called SAC Capital Partners. This is when he realized his potential to earn money through trading.
In 2011, Forbes ranked him as the 35th richest person in the US. His current net worth is around $14 billion. Despite having that kind of money, he works at his hedge fund. Sources claim that a good portion of the company’s profits are due to his efforts.
Cohen can trade and succeed under any market conditions. He is also known for taking risky decisions. Although he is a rich man today, his road to success has been tough. He made several big losses in his career but managed to bounce back from the setback.
In 2010, SAC was accused of insider trading and was found guilty. While the company had to pay $1.8 billion in fines, Cohen didn’t receive any charges.
- Jim Simons
Jim Simons aka Quant King is one of the top traders in the world. Coming from a mathematics background, his theory proved to be effective against Russian codes during the period of the Cold War.
Although Simons began his trading journey in his late 30s, he still managed to climb his way to the top. Unlike other traders, he traded based on pattern recognition, data analysis, and quant.
After founding his own hedge fund company, he decided to hire only mathematicians and scientists. He didn’t want to deal with Wall Street experts. His hedge fund company, Renaissance Technologies generated a 71.8% return between the period 1994 and 2014. You will be surprised to know that his hedge fund company was only open to his employees.
Simon’s current net worth is around $24.6 billion. He has proved his worth as a trader time and again.
Final Words
Being a successful trader is what sets you apart from the rest. These people have proved their trading skills by making epic trading decisions. They have dedicated their entire time and career to trading. It takes a lot of effort and courage to achieve what these traders have.
