Whether you are a novice to Forex trading or an experienced trader, all have one common goal: to be successful traders.
To provide some inspiration, we will look at five of the best Forex traders who have become extremely successful in the currency markets in this article. We will also give you some pointers on becoming a great Forex Traders! So, who are the world’s most effective Forex traders?
Are All Forex Traders Successful?
How many people who enter the forex markets become successful Forex traders before we begin our list of the best Forex traders?
You may have different figures from different sources stating that the number of richest forex traders is extremely small compared to the number of unsuccessful ones.
However, due to the decentralised nature of the Forex market, accurate statistics on this specific subject are tough to come by.
According to the data available primarily from Forex and CFD traders, it is uncommon for people to become extremely successful Forex traders, as most people stop trading when they begin losing money firms above a certain threshold.
However, undoubtedly, the most successful traders belong to an elite and small group. Not sure what forex trading is? Click here to learn more.
What Skills Shared by Successful Traders
By looking at an elite group of successful and well-known traders, we can see that they share some characteristics.
- Discipline
- Risk Management
- Courage
- Shrewdness
The Best Forex Traders in the World
George Soros
George Soros is one of the most legendary figures in forex trading history, and we begin our list of the top forex traders in the world with him. Soros is likely to figure prominently in any talk over who is the greatest forex trader in history.
Soros is known as one of the greatest traders in history. He is well-known for using his exceptional knowledge of economic trends to pick out market inefficiencies and exploit them for large, highly leveraged trades. He cemented his legendary status in 1992, when he allegedly earned more than $1 billion from short-selling the GBP, earning himself the moniker “the guy who broke the Bank of England.”
Stanley Druckenmiller
This successful Forex trader is related to the prior entry on our list of the top Forex traders. Stanley Druckenmiller spent over ten years working alongside George Soros at Soros’ Quantum Fund and considers him a mentor.
Since then, Druckenmiller has built a solid reputation, successfully managing billions of dollars for Duquesne Capital, which he founded. He has undoubtedly established himself as one of the best Forex traders in the world.
Aside from his role in Soros’ well-known success on Black Wednesday, Druckenmiller established a track record of remarkable profits with Duquesne prior to his retirement and now has a net worth of over $3 billion.
Bill Lipschutz
Bill Lipschutz is a legend in the Forex trading community, famous for his inspiring trading journey that began while attending university in the 1970s.
He established Heathersage Capital Management in 1995, which specialises in trading G10 currencies. Lipschutz characterises Forex as a highly psychological and tactical market, and, like many other successful Forex traders, he thinks that price views affect price behaviour as much as facts do.
Lipschutz also agrees with Stanley Druckenmiller that in order to be a successful Forex trader, your success relies on capitalising on the occasions when you are right. You have to coin out how to better off trading from being right only 20% to 30% of the time,” he once famously said of trading.
Lipschutz’s ability to stand again from such a devastating loss early in his trading career to become a successful guy earns him a significant position on our list of the top forex traders in the world.
Andrew Krieger
Krieger matriculated from the Wharton School of Business and joined Bankers Trust in 1986.
Many regarded him as one of the boldest and most well-known traders of the time, dazzling his firm’s management so much that they granted him trading funds of $700 million, fourteen times the normal $50 million limit!
Krieger recognised the New Zealand dollar as being overpriced in the wake of the Black Monday collapse in October 1987, in which most markets fell by at least 20%.
He then began a highly leveraged short position against the currency, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. His short position was so big that it was rumoured to exceed New Zealand’s money supply at the time!
The New Zealand currency eventually dropped by 5%, earning Krieger’s bosses a profit of $300 million!
Paul Tudor Jones
With an approximate net worth of more than $7 billion, Paul Tudor Jones is without a doubt, one of the best forex traders ever.
After finishing the University of Virginia in 1976, he started trading cotton futures at the New York Cotton Exchange, a position he later lost after falling unconscious at his workstation after drinking with his friends!
He later became a commodities broker and, in 1980, established his own company, Tudor Investment Corporation, which trades and invests across various assets, including currencies, commodities, and equities.
One of Jones’ early and biggest triumphs was predicting and shorting the B Lack Monday collapse in 1987, which we discussed in the previous part, tripling his money and making a reported $100 million in the process!
Final Words
This article narrated five of the most famous traders globally. Diving deep into the best forex traders’ lives in the world can positively affect getting some additional inspiration and drive. However, becoming a successful Forex trader will take a lot of effort. Perhaps the best spot to begin is to ensure you have a sound education in financial markets.
Keep in mind that all the successful forex traders on this list did not become successful in a day or two. They all began somewhere, built their abilities and grew their trading balances over several years, and they all worked hard to become successful traders. They did not just start out as day traders or swing traders; they adapted and learned their preferred trading style over time.