The Best Traders of All Time

History is full of famous traders who changed their careers and moved to trade. In this article, we will discuss the best traders of all time. Both tragedy and triumph color the lives of famous traders. Explore the lives of legendary traders and learn how to start your trading journey. Remember, only a few traders have disrupted in the financial market. All of them are not the best traders in history. 

List of Top 10 Best Traders of All Time

Peter Schiff

He is an American trader and investor and become famous by predicting the stock market crash of 2007 to 2010. His father was a renowned tax protester, and he set the way for Peter’s economic interest. In 2006, he warned people about the economic collapse and ask them to take action based on his predictions. He faced fair criticism and appeared in various news programs. Moreover, in his book in 2007, he discussed the flaws in US government policies. He said that there is a severe imbalance between supply and demand; that’s why he predicted economic collapse.

George Soros

He was born in 1930 and is the son of the most prominent and successful Forex traders of all time. He bet against the British pound in 1991 and secured a $1 billion profit. After that, he earned a nickname, “a man who broke the bank of England.” He made his most famous trade a few days before the British Government devalued the pound. Predicting the decision, he sells billions of pounds and repurchases them after the devaluation. Soros applied a theory of cause and effect, and he gets a clear picture of value discrepancies and asset bubbles. 

Jesse Livermore 

He was born in 1877 and was among the greats in trading. His life was involved in several crashes. One of those crashes was the 1929 Wall Street Crash. He was a famous trader for both colossal gains and losses in the market. He made $100 million by that time, and he made and lost other fortunes along the way. Moreover, he didn’t use algorithms or price charts; he just keeps track of prices in a ledger. He is the founder of the concept of pivot points. 

Paul Tudor Jones

He is famous for black Monday when the stock market crash in 1987. During that time, he shorted various stocks and made around $100 million. He started his career in finance as a clerk. After five years of his famous trade, he became the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Jones gives credit for his successful trades to his colleague Peter Borish who mapped the 1929 market against the 1987 market. Based on the number of similarities between two sets of circumstances, he shorted the stocks. His trading style is based on technical analysis. 

Simon Cawkwell

He was born in 1946, is and well-known for spread bettor and controversial bear. He famously outs and shorts by predicting that their share prices will fall. Some of his famous trades include shorting Northern Bank before it went to administration, and he made 1 million pounds by shorting shares after the 9/11 attacks. 

He admitted that he relies on assumptions; that’s why he is superior to other traders. He shared his success story, and he admits that he doesn’t panic when the market moves fast. He uses his accountant experience and analyzes the health and position of a company before shorting stocks. 

Jim Rogers

He is a financial commentator and an American investor born in 1942. He, along with fellow investor Soros, founded the Quantum Fund in the early 1970s. He is famous because he grows his portfolio by 4200% in just 10 years. He holds a long position on commodities in the 1990s. He predicted the consumer debt bubbles and more real estate in the 80s. 

John Paulson

He was born in 1955, and he studied business at New York University. He started a financial career in 1976. He made millions of dollars by shorting the real estate market during the market crisis of 2007. He invests in credit default swaps and bet against mortgage-backed securities. According to rough estimates, he made $3.7 billion of these trades. These trades awarded him the status of ‘financial legend.’ Moreover, he avoids the media, and you might see a rare interview of him. 

Nick Leeson 

He was born in 1967 and caused the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995. Before this massive scandal, he headed the band operations in Singapore and made massive profits through his trades. However, before the collapse, he made a few bad trades, and lost huge amounts of money. He tried to hide the losses from the supervisor, and he tried to win capital by placing speculative bets. Unfortunately, due to the earthquake, the index experienced a sharp drop overnight. Due to this drop in prices, the bank lost more than $1 billion. He left the country, but he was arrested in Germany and spent four years in prison. 

Ed Seykota 

He was the greatest trend follower, and he started his financial career when punch cards were used in computers. He used a mechanical signal to buy and sell stocks. Moreover, he rides the trends as long as he possibly can. He doesn’t watch price actions all day and wait until close to update prices. He was able to control his emotions to a greater extent by risking only 1% of capital on each trade. He avoids predictions, and he believes that the market would tell him what to do next. 

Nicholas Darvas 

He was a dancer, but he became a self-taught investor and made almost $2 million on the stock market. After losing some money, he learned more about potential high-growth sectors. Then he looks for signals in the volume of stock and keeps waiting for a substantial increase. 

These are the best traders of all time, and their stories are part of lots of books and movies.