Trading on the financial markets is often considered to be a potentially lucrative but challenging undertaking. While it may be true that most financial traders fail to beat the market, there are some who have made massive fortunes by picking the right stocks, currency pairs, bonds, and other investment vehicles to drive wealth and get ahead on the market.
Stock picking is particularly popular among traders, as the stock market offers a diverse range of investments from across dozens of industries all over the world.
But who are the most successful financial traders that have made their fortunes in the 21st century and is their success at all replicable? – The stories of famous traders can inspire a generation of young investment enthusiasts to take the leap and try to make the most of what the market has to offer.
Paul Tudor Jones
It is no secret that hedge fund managers are some of the wealthiest individuals in the world due to managing billions of dollars in client assets.
Paul Tudor Jones is a notable member of the list of the most successful hedge fund managers, with an estimated net worth of over $7 billion.
While Jones did not start his career in finance in the 21st century, he found most of his success and rapid net worth growth after the turn of the millennium, when he was already 45 years old.
His hedge fund, Tudor Investment Corporation, is based in Stamford, Connecticut, and manages over $12 billion in assets.
The company has expanded its offerings into the crypto market as well, as a means to combat inflation and tap into a rapidly growing global market.
Keith Gill (aka “Roaring Kitty”)
The GameStop saga of 2021-2022 has been one of the wildest stock market stories in recent memory, which saw a rogue stock trader, Keith Gill, bet massively on the rise in the price of GME stock, which was one of the heaviest shorted stocks on the market at that time.
With declining retail fortunes and overall sentiment of brick and mortar businesses going under, Keith Gill, who was known by his alias “Roaring Kitty” on the r/wallstreetbets subreddit, saw potential in the stock and the company’s efforts to take the business model online.
Thousands of traders, who were stuck at home due to Covid-19 lockdowns, spent their savings and stimulus checks on buying GME stock, which caused a massive short-squeeze and ballooned Gill’s $53,000 investment to over $300 million – a return that is yet to be matched on the stock market.
Keith Gill has remained adamant on his stock holding and refuses to sell GME, even after such huge gains. Nonetheless, the Roaring Kitty story and the chaos of the GameStop short squeeze remain as one of the most bizarre and entertaining investment stories of all time.
Michael Burry
If you have ever seen the movie ‘The Big Short’, or have paid any attention to the 2008 financial crisis, you may have heard of Michael Burry before.
A contrarian trader, Michael Burry is most famous for betting against the U.S. housing market after what he saw was an unsustainable bubble waiting to explode.
Burry is the founder and manager of Scion Asset Management, which currently has around $100 million in AUM.
While this may not be anywhere close to some of the hedge fund managers out there, Michael Burry’s acute assessment of the subprime mortgage crisis between 2007 and 2010 has cemented his place as an investment legend, while building a sizable fortune for him along the way.
Vladimir Ribakov
Vladimir Ribakov is more popular among forex traders and has been active on the market for 17 years. While his exact net worth is unknown, he has taken the educational route after a successful career in forex trading, which he still continues to this day.
The founder of the Home Trader Club, Ribakov offers FX trading courses and signals to thousands of traders around the world.
Furthermore, Ribakov is also active on social media, with his YouTube channel amassing over 88 thousand subscribers, where he shows trade setups and shares signals with his followers.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A statistician and essayist, Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a former options trader who made a fortune during the 2008 financial crisis.
Taleb is best known for his academic work and is the author of several books, covering topics such as risk management, options trading, volatility, etc.
The net worth of Nassim Taleb is estimated to be around $100 million, with a bulk of his earnings coming from the Black Monday crash in 1987 and the 2008 financial crisis, which has earned him a reputation of contrarian investing – accurately gauging when a major financial crisis is likely to occur.
Summary
The modern age of financial traders has emerged as a beacon of opportunity for people all over the world to build a fortune by accurately guessing the direction of asset prices.
Some of the most successful and popular financial traders made their fortune during the early days of the stock market, when trading was still considered to be a niche profession and economic growth was rapid.
However, this does not mean that the 21st century has lagged behind in any regard – some of the most notable investors were forged during the 2008 financial crisis and beyond, with Keith Gill’s GameStop trades being the most recent and highly publicized millionaire-maker activity on the market.
