The Most Successful Traders in the World

When trying to achieve success in one activity or another, people often turn to history. History reveals how the greats of this world achieved their financial goals, what pitfalls they stepped on, and what happened in the end.

Trading is one of the most challenging professions. Without qualified professional training in this area, it is difficult to become a professional. What is left for us to do? - Study the experience of those who have already achieved significant and outstanding results in this business, and learn from them: in words, actions, books, and video seminars.

Every millionaire in the international currency market is a newcomer back in the day, who came into trading from regular life. None of them was born a trader with rich experience and could achieve success only by working on himself for many years. To be on the list of those who made a fortune on forex, they had to go through the hard way of trial and error, education, and forming their trading strategy. Their names are known today practically to every trader.

George Soros

George Soros was born in the capital of Hungary in 1930 into a poor Jewish family. At birth, he was named György Schwartz, but in 1936 the head of the family, Tivadar, decided to change his last name.

In 1947 the whole family emigrated to Britain, where George entered the London School of Economics and Political Science. At first, there was not enough money, and Soros took any job: he worked as a factory worker, a lifeguard at a swimming pool, and a doorman at a train station.

The new life of the future billionaire began with a move to New York in 1956. He had $500 in his pocket. On Wall Street for 30 years, Soros was able to increase his capital to 100 million dollars. Seemingly without fraud, thanks only to the securities trading method he invented.

Britain, which sheltered Soros in the postwar years, cursed him on September 16, 1992. That day went down in the history of modern England as "Black Wednesday".

Soros then decided to bet an enormous sum of money against the British sterling, dropping the British currency to its historic low. Thanks to this, he earned about $1 billion a day.

From 1997-to 1998, Soros pulled off a similar scheme in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines. Each time the collapse of the national currency led to a serious economic crisis in a particular country.

By the end of the 1990s, Soros decided to retire on "financial rest" and suddenly declared himself a philanthropist. Since then, the billionaire has been actively involved in financing education, science, and culture. It is believed that during all this time he spent on all this about 32 billion dollars.

On the day of his 90th birthday, Soros decided to share the secret of his success. Now, however, this trick no longer works. According to the financier, his approach to earning money had been psychological for a long time.

- It is not about markets, but the connection of thinking and reality, but I used the market as a testing ground for testing my theories, the billionaire explained. - Distorted views of things also lead to inadequate actions. This is due to reflexivity. This teaching has given me some advantages over others.

Larry Williams

Larry Richard Williams was born in Miles City, Montana, in 1942. After graduating from the University of Oregon School of Journalism in Eugene, he took a job with an advertising agency in New York, but then returned to Oregon and founded his own publishing house, The Oregon Report. Larry's newspaper specialized in covering the state's economic and political events.

Some sources say that Larry's passion for the stock markets began when he saw a company's stock price rise in a newspaper. His friend explained to him that if he had bought those shares yesterday, today he could earn $250.

BUT! Larry Williams' official website lists the following information. Larry began following the markets in 1962. At that time there was a price crash in the steel market. This information was all over the front pages of the newspapers. People were losing millions, but Larry was more fascinated by the fact that if these people had a short position in the market, they would make millions.

By 1965, Larry Williams was already actively trading in the markets and writing newsletters. In 1966, he developed the famous William %R indicator, which is still used by many successful traders today.

In 1987, Larry Williams decided to participate in the Robbins World Cup trading championship.

His trading strategy was long-term trend following. He looked for assets, in which there was a steady strong trend, then he calculated the entry points.

Larry Williams believes that past events do not affect future price changes. Most of his indicators do not predict the future, they help to assess the current state of affairs on the market.

During a year, Larry shows a yield of 11,376% and his deposit grows from $10,000 to $1,137,600. A fabulous figure. Initially, Larry achieved a result of 20,000%, but Black Monday, which brought down the Dow Jones index, corrected his result by almost half.

In 1997, he repeats his experiment and makes $50,000 to over $1 million in one year.

However, he wasn't always so lucky. In 1989, Larry, also taking part in the Robbins World Cup, loses more than 50% of his initial deposit.

Stephen Cohen

Stephen Cohen became famous as a talented trader who developed his investment model. Thanks to his analytical approach the businessman can predict crises in the markets and use them to his maximum advantage. Cohen worked hard to develop a profitable strategy and he succeeded.

Stephen was born in 1957 in a small American town in the family of a tailor and a piano tutor. Already in school, the boy showed analytical skills, which especially helped when playing poker with classmates. At this time, Cohen carefully studied the technique and characteristics of each opponent. According to Stephen himself, it was poker in school that taught him to think through further actions and assess the risks.

As a student at the University of Pennsylvania, the young man studied stock markets and their work on them. The first significant success was the investment of $1000 in a brokerage company. The deal brought good profit, and Stephen decided to continue investing. In 1978, he got a position in this company, and 6 years later his portfolio had a value of $75 mln.

In 1992, Cohen set up his own hedge fund S.A.C Capital Partners, with the capital of $20 million initially. At that time, there were very few such companies, which played into the hands of the businessman. In the first year of the fund's existence alone, he was able to receive $13 million in investments. The prudent capital management and increase in customer profits made Cohen's company popular in business circles.

Stephen did not stop there; he actively developed the fund, raised stakes, and implemented new strategies. This resulted in an annual profit of nearly 50% in 1998, compared to about 20% for other companies. The increased income allowed it to expand its staff and conduct new services for clients. S.A.C. traders earned about $400 million a year, and investor returns rose 43%.

Market conditions changed, which also required a realignment in the way the business was conducted. In 2000, some major transformations and crises proved fatal for many companies. To prevent losses, Cohen began working with investments and securities designed for the long term.

Despite his enormous fortune, Stephen is still actively involved in the fund's activities. He personally takes part in trading, communicates with the team of traders, and supervises the company's affairs. Cohen is not a public figure, he is engaged in something that brings him not only pleasure but also a lot of money.

Paul Tudor Jones

One of the most successful traders is but does not crave fame is Paul Tudor Jones. There are not many people like that. On the contrary, most, when they receive universal recognition, try, at the very least, to flaunt their lives. Many also share knowledge, often not for free. Jones wants none of the above. His secrets of success are a mystery to traders and journalists; similarly, he tries to keep his OTC and personal life under lock and key.

He began his career in the 1970s. After graduating from university, he already knew where to go next, and his goal was set - Wall Street. At 21, he first went there to trade, grow professionally, and get rich.

Interestingly, it was his uncle who advised him to try his hand at a trading career. He was sure that Paul should go to the student of one of the most successful financiers of that time - Eli Tullis. He was not so successful as to become world-famous; he was simply the best of all the stockbrokers his uncle knew. That's how the future specialist ended up with his first mentor in financial markets.

This yielded positive results. Paul was good at trading, but he wanted more, both financially and personally. So he looked at his options and prospects. That's how he came across a notice that a well-known trader Richard Dennis was ready to train 10 people.

For several years Paul Tudor Jones traded on the cotton exchange. The risks here were lower, but the profits were not enormous either. His inner attitude prevented him from moving to another market: when he was first trained as a trader, he had an opinion that this was the right place to trade. But the realization that the big money was passing him by year after year simply because of the wrong market choice plagued him. So a few years later he took up futures, and suddenly, the same knowledge and skills produced spectacular results, just as he'd expected.

Within a few months, he launched his investment fund, Tudors Futures. Simultaneously with this project, he was leading or participating in several others. He looked for clients independently, since there were not enough funds at this stage, and operating as a private investor and starting a company at that time was far more difficult than it is now.

In the '90s the fund opened several branches on other continents. On the whole, the work was going well. At the same time, many competitors saw their investments and profits decline; some closed down altogether. Paul Tudor Jones weathered the crisis period with varying success but still managed to stay afloat.

The real success Paul Tudor Jones reached later. The percentage of profits was constantly growing, and the number of investors increased. Today, the company invests in various markets around the world, and in total there are more than 30 investment options that the fund uses. His fortune is estimated at more than $3 billion. And his fund is still wildly popular with investors today - hard times are over, and more and more people now want to work with him.

Paul admits that not everything in his career has been as smooth as many people thought. Though when you look at it in big chunks of time, every chunk of time seems perfect, within every chunk there were negative events. All of them were associated with losses caused by misunderstanding what was happening in the market or by wrong decisions. Even the most successful traders are no stranger to emotional outbursts of regret. But he got out of those troubles, and to this day, he's glad that they didn't make him walk away from the financial markets.

John Arnold

John Arnold is a man who does not fit completely into the ranks of famous traders for one reason: he was a trader only for part of his life and then shifted his attention to business. In the world of entrepreneurs, he is considered a very talented man, a role model.

He was born in 1974, and therefore he can be safely put on the same line as modern stock speculators. People like him inspire more confidence in those who want to conquer the financial markets - they are more real.

Already in his student years, he began to plan for his future life, particularly his career. Professors predicted him a great future, especially in terms of entrepreneurship. And after getting higher education, he began his activity with trading. Having taken a position as an ordinary trader in the Enron company, he soon showed himself very well from the professional side. John Arnold was one of the first who managed to achieve a lot, using the computer capabilities in his work. With this, he got his first popularity, as well as with his predictions, which came true more than often.

In 2001, his career took off sharply, and at the same time, he became famous: the company announced his personal results. At the time, he earned one billion dollars. Employers had a lot to appreciate him for. He was known to be rewarded with $8 million.

However, a year later, John Arnold's career as a trader ended. His company ceased to exist for reasons beyond his control. Thus, a popular and successful trader was left "without a job", if one can put it that way. The doors to any investment funds were open to him, many brokers would have liked to cooperate with such an analyst. But he decided to go on alone.

The result of his thinking was the opening of Centaurus Energy Advisors, LLC, a hedge fund that worked with power generation companies.

Now the largest producers have come together here. Offices have been opened in many states, and the employees are cutting-edge professionals. John Arnold became famous not only as a trader. His entrepreneurial acumen is such that many successful people would envy him. He has been masterfully managing his business for many years. He has handled some pretty nasty situations but he has always emerged victorious from them - usually at a profit.

In 2007 he made it into the list of America's richest men, ranking 317. He became a billionaire at the age of 33, a very young age for such achievements.

Today, the amount of funds invested in this fund exceeds $3 billion. And this figure is growing every year.

John Arnold does not disclose the secrets of his success. Neither his own nor the fund's. The following can be said about it:

Regarding the principles of work, based on which he makes a profit, he does not disclose them. His condition for his clients is either they simply invest and trust him by default, or they refuse his services. It must be said that this "don't talk anybody down" approach works for many, and they stay. Part of Arnold's explanation is that he doesn't want anyone to interfere with their analysis by trying to criticize and correct. It is also possible that he simply does not want to divulge the methods of analysis that work.

As for his personal success, there are hardly any secrets. It has to do solely with the desire to develop, determination, teachability, and self-discipline. That's what so many people, and traders, in particular, lack.

Joe Lewis

The billionaire, who lives in the Bahamas on his giant yacht, doesn't go out in public and prefers to do business and invest only through trusted people. Lewis earned most of his capital from currency trading: he invests his income in a wide variety of businesses. In narrow circles, the investor is jokingly called a boxer because of his full namesake - former world heavyweight champion Joe Lewis.

Joe Lewis was born in 1937 in East London, in the family of a Jewish businessman. When the boy was 15 years old, he dropped out of school, because he had to help his father in his business - he was a traveling banquet organizer. At first, Joe was a waiter and worked 14 hours a day, but later he got involved in running the business.

He was able to significantly boost the income of his father's catering company, Tavistock Banqueting, by selling luxury goods to tourists from the United States. Lewis gradually turned the family business into a restaurant franchise. He also expanded the business and opened a nightclub called the Hanover Grand. The props there were carefully chosen and the employees wore costumes - it was the prototype of the now fashionable themed entertainment venues.

In 1979, Joe sold the family business for 30 million pounds sterling and started investing. This idea paid off: during the collapse of the pound in 1992, Lewis, together with George Soros, made an untold fortune. The two influential businessmen became partners shortly before the high-profile deal.

However, even before the very successful Black Wednesday for the businessman, he had to flee Great Britain - Joe moved to the Bahamas because of tax problems. To this day Lewis still actively trades on the stock exchange, although he has many other sources of income. His priority in the market is foreign exchange operations.

Joe Lewis founded the investment organization Tavistock Group in 1975. Now it consists of more than 200 companies in 15 countries: they include medical centers, sports teams, restaurants, commercial, resort, and residential real estate, energy, and oil and gas companies. In addition, Lewis' business assets include a stake in the management of the investment company ENIC International Ltd, established in 1997 together with Daniel Levy, a 7% stake in the brokerage company Bear Stearns Cos Inc., the Albany golf course in the Bahamas, the largest British pub chain Mitchell's & Butlers plc.

One of the main interests of the investor was a soccer club Tottenham Hotspur, purchased by him in 2001. This investment is also fully justified: one season of the Premier League club brings Lewis more than 100 million pounds. At the same time, the English are extremely unhappy with the management policy of Tottenham Hotspur. During the coronavirus pandemic, a billionaire decided to cut 40% of the non-playing staff and is in no hurry to invest in the development of the club.

The 85-year-old businessman has a fortune of $5.3billion. - He ranks 490th on the Forbes list. In 2017 Lewis purchased a unique 98-meter Aviva yacht with a tennis court and now uses it as a mobile office. He still lives in the Bahamas in New Providence because of the same tax problems, and his friend and partner Daniel Levy handles most of his financial affairs.

What is the Mindset of the World's Best Traders?

In this article, we looked at the most famous and influential traders. The list is far from complete, but it shows different approaches to the financial markets. We can talk for a long time about people who have achieved recognized successes, but let's think about this: what do the above-mentioned financiers have in common; what is the thinking of the famous traders; why did they achieve such significant success?

Almost every investor described in this article had a difficult childhood and youth. Some of these people were certainly talented. But you can't discover talent without hard work yourself.

Analyzing the character of all these gurus of trading, we can conclude that they have always known their main goal and strived for it. From their youth the best traders got their knowledge from different sources: whether it was from libraries, their father, or familiar cotton traders - it didn't matter, the main thing was the result.

All, one way or another, had dizzying ups and painful downs. Some left the world of investment for several years, accumulated strength, and then returned. Trading for such people was and remains the purpose of life, for them it is life itself.

To sum it up, one thing is certain: without the proper persistence, boundless faith in yourself, highly specialized knowledge, and time, it's impossible to become a master. If you have a clear goal in front of you and you work to achieve it, everything will work out.