5 Forex Success Stories
At first glance, the statistics make for relatively grim reading for aspiring forex traders.
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More specifically, it’s estimated that as many as 70% of forex traders lose money over a concerted period of time, while some studies have suggested that this number could be as high as 90%.
However, those that do make a profit can benefit hugely from forex trading, with a number of inspiring and globally-renowned success stories having been immortalised through history. Here are five of the most interesting:
#1. George Soros
Let’s start with the godfather of forex trading, and a man who is looked up to by many as the greatest and most successful forex trader of all time.
Certainly, George Soros achieved one of the most iconic ever forex trading feats, having secured a profit of more than £1 billion from shorting the pound during a period of sustained economic volatility and prior to ‘Black Wednesday’ (when pound sterling eventually crashed to historic lows).
Soros had been building a huge short position in pounds for months, with this suddenly becoming immensely profitable as the currency finally plunged below the lower band of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Soros is undoubtedly a thoughtful and proactive trader, and one whose methodology reaffirms the importance of monitoring economic news and analysis datasets that are relevant to your chosen currency pairings.
#2. Stanley Druckenmiller
Next up is Stanely Druckenmiller, who also participated in the shorting of the pound prior to Black Wednesday back in September 1992.
Over a long and illustrious career, Druckenmiller has cultivated a net worth of more than $2 million, while he has also acquired a solid reputation for successfully managing the Duquesne Capital fund (which closed in August 2010 with more than $12 billion in assets).
Like all successful forex traders, Druckenmiller has a clearly defined trading philosophy and actionable strategy, which sees him pursue increased profits on trades as aggressively as possible.
This strategy is built on intelligence and key insights too, which can simultaneously help to minimise loss, maximise profits and preserve capital where possible.
#3. Paul Tudor-Jones
Born in 1954, Tudor-Jones was always a natural risk-taker, having initially given up a prestigious place at Harvard Business School to work as a commodity trader at the New York Stock Exchange.
When running his own investment firm during the infamous market crash of October 1987, he was reported to have made a profit of over 62% on short positions across the board.
This translated into a cash profit of more than $100 million, which helped to forge the trader’s global reputation and enabled him to become the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.
Certainly, Tudor-Jones’ story underlines the importance of courage and persistence when trading forex, as taking the journey from being a common trader to the chairman of the NYSE is fraught with pitfalls and challenges.
#4. Bill Lipschutz
Bill Lipschutz is another famous forex trader, and one whose story outlines the importance of risk management in a highly leveraged and volatile marketplace.
He also suggests that mindset and attributes like determinism can (in some cases) mask a lack of knowledge or experience, with the trader having amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in profit with Salomon Brothers without any prior experience in the forex market.
Often, Lipschutz has advised aspiring traders to focus on taking advantage of the times that they are in rather than focusing on being right all of the time, with this highlighting the ability of investors to leverage forex market volatility to their advantage in real-time.
#5. Andrew Kreiger
Andrew Kreiger graduated from the Wharton School of Business, but interestingly, his first trading role with the aforementioned Salomon Brothers was largely unsuccessful.
However, his fortunes changed when he joined the Bankers Trust in 1986, where he was able to deploy more aggressive tactics and bank some sizable returns.
He even made history in the 1987 market crash, when he went incredibly short on the New Zealand dollar at inflated leverage of 400:1, with this translating into a company profit of $300 million when the NZD eventually crashed.
His efforts even earned an invite to work with the legendary George Soros, which is an achievement that most forex traders starting out can only dream of!
Interested in getting into Forex? Check out Admiral’s Forex Trading for beginners guide.