Although the world may have endured significant economic tumult of late, there always remain opportunities for individuals to make money and accumulate significant wealth through the financial markets.
In fact, some markets actively enable investors to leverage volatility to their advantage, with forex offering a relevant case in point.
In this case, the price of currency pairs is affected directly by macroeconomic factors such as inflation rates and rising base interest rates, but as these assets are traded speculatively and without requiring you to assume ownership of the underlying financial instruments, it’s possible to leverage even downward price shifts and generate profit.
Because of this, there are a number of successful traders who are constantly able to generate profit in the global financial marketplace. In this article, I’ll explore this further by appraising the net worth of three such individuals!
#1. Jim Simons (Net Worth $28.1 Billion)
Where else but to start but with Jim Simons, who remains an intriguing figure and billionaire trader who has made most of his $28.1 billion fortune as a hedge fund manager.
He also has a distinctive background as a mathematician and quantitative investor, which has created a methodical trading mind that’s focused on pattern recognition (for which Simons is particularly famous) and so-called “string theory development”.
The latter term refers to a topological model that’s applied to money flows between mutual funds, hedge funds and bank trading desks over typically short periods of time, which is thought to be central to Simons’ sustained success and the attainment of many financial traders over the years.
After gaining a Ph.D. in mathematics at the age of 23, Simons launched his trading career by building a team of professionals and engineers to create an algorithm that could predict any financial instrument price change.
This is common in the modern financial marketplace, and commonly referred to by investors and quantitative analysis.
Driven by increasingly advanced and intuitive algorithms (and mathematical models), this type of comprehensive analysis is used to identify patterns in complex datasets, providing accurate predictions and highly insightful trades.
Make no mistake; Simons is a true trailblazer in the financial markets, and one who currently helps to manage some of the world’s largest hedge funds.
#2. Carl Ichan (Net Worth $17.6 Billion)
Carl Ichan was also the richest trader in the world for a while, before being superseded by the efforts of Simons. He’s perhaps best known for his simple and accessible trading observations, including the iconic quote that “the cardinal rule is to have enough capital at the end of the day.”
This ethos has certainly stood Icahn in good stead, as he has gradually built a net worth in excess of $17 billion. A wise, intelligent and seasoned trader, Icahn has evolved to become an investor icon in the mold of Warren Buffet, who remains the Godfather of trading around the world.
His career started after Icahn was given a $4,000 loan by his uncle M. Elliot, with which he purchased a seat at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Here, he began to invest in either discounted or startup stocks, including Trans World Airlines (TWA) after it filed for bankruptcy.
He subsequently founded Icahn Enterprises, which has become Icahn’s holding firm and earned a reputation for investing in premium tech startups before they became global behemoths. Such investments included Apple, Netflix, Revlon and Motorola, while Icahn’s ability to recognise potential and invest early has been key to his wealth accumulation through the years.
As someone who prioritizes tech startups, Icahn clearly prefers a high-risk trading strategy, with the key to his success lying in detailed analysis, an incredible wealth of knowledge and innate instinct for equities that thrive in the competitive tech marketplace.
Icahn has also inspired many with his prolific trading record and aggressive strategies, which can prove particularly effective in volatile conditions.
#3. George Soros (Net Worth $6.7 Billion)
George Soros is now perhaps best known for his philanthropy and as a Holocaust survivor, but in investment circles, he will forever be referred to as the man who ‘broke’ the Bank of England.
In the period leading up to the 1990s, the British pound had started to shadow the German Deutschmark, which gradually spiked inflation in the UK. To counter this and help create a simulated unification of all Common Market economies, the UK joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), but this proved to be wholly unsuccessful over time.
With the UK’s presence in the ERM artificially inflating the value of the pound and deterring international investors, speculators (led by Soros) saw the writing on the wall and began to short and hedge against the pound.
In fact, Soros opened a huge short position on pound sterling, and as the currency began to lose billions, the British government was left with little choice but to withdraw from the ERM. This saw the value of the pound plummet on a day referred to as ‘Black Wednesday’, with Soros’ personal bet believed to deliver a return in the region of $1 billion.
This lay the foundation for Soros’ wealth and subsequent trading career, serving as a highly successful hedge fund manager through the ‘Quantum Fund’ until 2011.
Many short-sellers and aggressive traders cite Soros as an inspiration, while his shorting of the pound remains one of the single biggest investment triumphs in recorded history!
