In this article, we will discuss the World’s 15 Most Famous Traders of All Time. You can skip our detailed discussion and see the World’s 5 Most Famous Traders of All Time.
The stock market has seen some of the most noteworthy trades, which have shaken financial markets resulting in incredible profits, making the traders involved in the books of financial history. Among the most well-known is the deal that took place in 1992 between Stanley Druckenmiller and George Soros, in which they infamously “broke the Bank of England.” They wagered against the currency on what became known as Black Wednesday by shorting the British pound. They made almost $1.5 billion in profits, according to Forbes, as a result of their strategic insight that caused the pound to devalue. This trade showcased their extraordinary ability to predict markets.
READ ALSO What Is Short Selling In Stock Market? 15 Stocks Hedge Funds are Shorting and 15 Best Websites To Research Stocks.
Another remarkable trade was pulled off by Paul Tudor Jones in 1987. Jones, a technical analysis expert, made a comparison between the 1987 market environment and the conditions that preceded prior market disasters. Based on his analysis, he was able to forecast the infamous “Black Monday” crash, in which the stock market experienced a one-day loss of more than 20% of its value. Significant profits were made as a result of Jones’ smart decision to short the market. The fact that Jones appeared in the documentary Trader, which was shot just months before Black Monday, and made the following accurate prediction about the upcoming crash: “There will be some type of decline, without a question, in the next 10 to 20 months,” “And it will be earth-shaking; it will be saber-rattling,” adds even more significance to this trade.
Talking about profits, we cannot miss legendary trades that were made during the 2008 financial crisis, especially by Michael Burry and others such as Steve Eisman, who anticipated and profited from the collapse of subprime mortgages. They bet against subprime mortgages after realizing the impending housing market crisis. Their unconventional approaches paid out handsomely when the housing bubble burst, a tale that was ultimately made into a movie called “The Big Short.” Mark Baum, based on Steve Eisman, made $1 billion from the market crisis depicted in the film. According to the movie, Greg Lippmann made $47 million through trading.
Another trader who created history was Jim Chanos, who took a short position on Enron, a firm that, despite its appearance as a dominant player in the energy trading market, was actually involved in massive accounting fraud. Chanos placed a bet against Enron after identifying its weaknesses. One of the most well-known short-selling deals in history, Chanos’s short position made him a $500 million profit when Enron failed in 2001. Moreover, due to growing competition in the electric vehicle market, he also placed short bets on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in 2023. He mentioned at the time that the EV manufacturer’s weakest market is China. Chanos stated:
“You have repatriation of capital risk. You have [Chinese automaker] BYD and others just taking massive market share,” “Tesla trades at a premium to those companies who are growing faster than they are in China. So if you want to play all these things, there are now lots of ways to do it.”
It’s true that when rivals increased their EV production during 2023, Tesla lowered the price of its S and X models in China and introduced less expensive models in the US. Tesla stated in a post on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo that the Model X was now available for purchase for 836,900 Chinese yuan ($114,677), down from 898,900 yuan. Once decreased from 808,900 yuan, the Model S was offered for 754,900 yuan.
Recently, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported that in the second quarter of 2024, the company produced approximately 411,000 vehicles and delivered approximately 444,000 vehicles. This covers 24,255 other models in addition to 386,576 Model 3/Y. Additionally, Tesla deployed 9.4 GWh of energy storage products in Q2, which was a record high for the company.
Financial services firm Stifel maintained its “Buy” rating on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares with a firm price target of $265.00. The company’s guarantee follows Tesla’s second-quarter delivery numbers, which exceeded Stifel’s own projections as well as the consensus expectation.
With that said, TSLA’s Q2 performance wasn’t quite what was expected of it. The company’s revenue from EVs fell 7% year over year as it lost market share to rival EV makers. It especially faces tough competition outside the US from Chinese EV makers. In addition, the company’s net margin fell to 14.4% from 18.7% a year ago. This may not be as bad as it sounds, in part, at-least, since one of the reasons the company cited for declining margins was its investments in AI. On the other hand, though, increased competition and decreased demand is also eating into these figures.
“While we acknowledge the potential of TSLA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TSLA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.”
With that said, here are the World’s 15 Most Famous Traders of All Time.
Methodology:
In order to compile the list of the World’s 15 Most Famous Traders of All Time, we relied on Google Trends. This is because fame does not necessarily equate to wealth.
We looked at the search interest people from across the world had for a sample of traders from as far back as 2004 to the present day in the category of finance. We analyzed the trend lines from 2004 to present and took the average of the search interest from low to high for the part of the trendline that dominated the overall trendline. We then ranked our list using these average scores. In cases, where two or more traders had the same average, we used their estimated net worth as a tie-breaker to establish the final ranks for our list.
“At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).”
15. John Paulson
Insider Monkey Score: 16.5
During the height of the financial crisis in 2007, John Paulson made his fortune by placing bets on subprime mortgages. Paulson & Co., his hedge fund company, was established in 1994 and prospered as a specialty fund until Paulson embarked on his “big short” in 2007.
14. Jim Simons
Insider Monkey Score: 18
Established in 1982 by mathematician and former codebreaker Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies grew to become a major hedge fund with the renowned Medallion Fund. In 2010, Simons retired, yet he continued to invest. At the age of 86, he departed from this life in May 2024.
13. William Delbert Gann
Insider Monkey Score: 20
Net worth: ~$50 million
One of the most famous traders in history, William Delbert Gann, employed techniques for market forecasting derived from ancient mathematics, astrology, astronomy, and geometry. His methods, referred to as Gann indicators, are used to forecast the peak, bottom, and future prices of commodities by some traders.
12. Michael Burry
Insider Monkey Score: 20
Net worth: $300 million
The “Big Short” investor, Michael Burry, gained fame for his accurate forecast of the collapse of the US housing market in 2008 and the subsequent shorting. According to reports, he made $700 million for his investors and $100 million for himself. In the movie The Big Short, Christian Bale played Burry, dramatizing his bet against the housing bubble. In addition, Burry is the owner and hedge fund manager of Scion Asset Management.
11. Peter Lynch
Insider Monkey Score: 21
After taking charge of the Fidelity Magellan mutual fund in 1977, Lynch rose to prominence as its portfolio manager. In his 13 years as portfolio manager, he increased the fund’s asset base from $20 million to $14 billion, outperforming the 500 large companies 11 times out of 13, according to Forbes, with an average annual rate of return of 29.2%. His “invest in what you know” philosophy is what has made him the world’s one of the most famous traders of all time.
10. Nick Leeson
Insider Monkey Score: 22
Reportedly, over $1.3 billion was lost by risk-taking trader Nick Leeson, who became the cause of Barings Bank’s bankruptcy in 1995 as an outcome of his unauthorized derivatives trading. As a result, he became one of the most famous traders of all time, or infamous.
Currently, Leeson works as a private investigator for corporate firms, handling financial misconduct cases.
9. Jim Rogers
Insider Monkey Score: 24
James Rogers is Beeland Interests, Inc.’s chair and was born in 1942. One of the first truly international hedge funds, the Quantum Fund, which he co-founded with George Soros, in the early 1970s, has been reported to have produced incredible returns of 4,200% in its first ten years. Rogers is well-known for his commodity expertise, particularly in gold and silver.
8. George Soros
Insider Monkey Score: 28
George Soros is a Hungary-American billionaire and the founder of Soros Fund Management. Despite being a political activist and humanitarian, Soros is best known for “Breaking the Bank of England” in 1992. Being one of the most successful day traders in the world, Soros pocketed $1.5 billion by shorting the British pound, per Forbes.
7. Jesse Livermore
Insider Monkey Score: 30
American trader Jesse Lauriston Livermore (1877-1940) was well-known for his significant market profits and losses. Reportedly, by effectively shorting the 1929 market collapse, he substantially raised his wealth to $100 million.
6. Steven Cohen
Insider Monkey Score: 31.5
Steven Cohen (born 1956) is an American billionaire who runs Point72 Asset Management, a $30.6 billion hedge fund that began managing outside capital in 2018, according to Forbes. The New York Mets were reportedly purchased by Cohen in 2020 for a record-breaking $2.4 billion, the largest amount ever paid for an MLB team.
5. Benjamin Graham
Insider Monkey Score: 33
One of the most famous traders of all time and the “father of value investing” is Benjamin Graham. Along with many other phrases used in finance today, he is credited with coining the phrase “margin of safety.”
Graham’s book, The Intelligent Investor, which provides a detailed explanation of his investment theory, was published in 1947.
4. Ray Dalio
Insider Monkey Score: 33.5
The largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates, was founded by Ray Dalio and currently oversees $124 billion in assets, according to Forbes. In addition, he wrote a book titled Principles that outlines his outlook on both work and life. Known for his “all weather” investing approach, Dalio regularly communicates these concepts on his own channel on YouTube.
3. Warren Buffett
Insider Monkey Score: 33
Warren Buffett is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who is regarded as one of the world’s most famous traders of all time. He is a well-known value investor. Recognized as the “Oracle of Omaha,” he serves as Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, an American holding company. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $135.8 billion, and Bloomberg lists him as the 10th richest person in the world.
Over 99% of his wealth is to be donated, as per his pledge. He has donated almost $60 billion to date, primarily through the Gates Foundation and the foundations of his children.
2. David Tepper
Insider Monkey Score: 34
David Tepper, who was born in 1957, started Appaloosa Management, a phenomenally successful hedge fund, in 1993. Tepper specializes in distressed debt investing and has appeared on CNBC multiple times, where traders pay close attention to his views.
1. Paul Tudor Jones
Insider Monkey Score: 43.5
The world’s most popular trader of all time, Paul Tudor Jones, established the private asset management company Tudor Investment Corporation in 1980, which now manages $13 billion in assets per Forbes. Known for his bets on interest rates and currencies, Jones gained recognition for his contrarian trading style when he correctly predicted the 1987 stock market fall and went on to make reportedly a staggering $100 million in a single day.
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Disclosure: None. World’s 15 Most Famous Traders of All Time was originally published at Insider Monkey.
