If you want to attain high achievements in a specific sphere, it is essential to learn its history, which we consider the foundation to your personal successful career in trading. This article sheds light on, in our opinion, the most successful traders by 2023; those who, step by step, reached the top and became professionals. We gathered the common traits of the top Forex traders which are going to inspire you to improve as a trader. Let’s begin!
How much do the best Forex traders make?
The salary question is uncomfortable to ask. However, we cannot resist the curiosity to know how much top Forex traders make because, initially, trading is an unknown adventure to dive into. So, novice traders want to know what it is possible to achieve on the example of people who are successful in Forex. Seasoned traders, in turn, want to see the focus of their potential profits.
Generally, people consider top Forex traders as wealthy people without any unsatisfied needs. Well, this seems to be true because if we talk about the best of the best Forex traders, the profits they make annually or monthly are astonishing.
In reality, the returns of Forex traders depend on the amount of their investments. Statistics say professionals grow their funds between 5% and 15% monthly! We will take the average profit of 10%. Eventually, this will give a trader 120% at the end of the year! So this means that having $100 thousand capital, a top trader can grow it to $220 thousand. These numbers were taken as an example. There is no secret, top Forex traders earn six figures or more annually! How about discussing some biographies of these inspiring people?
George Soros
All traders are familiar with the big name of George Soros, the most successful Forex trader who achieved the American dream. This is the person to whose trading advice all traders eagerly. George Soros was born and raised in an ordinary middle-class Hungarian family in 1930. As a child, Soros was learning economics through board games. Then, the war broke out, forcing young George and his family to move to the United Kingdom. In the UK, the future billionaire worked as a waiter, eating leftovers to survive. He also worked as a painter and apple farm labourer before entering the London School of Economics.
After graduation, George Soros faced difficulties finding employment due to his inexperience in his area of studies, and he was forced to work wherever he could. Eventually, he caught a lucky break and got the position of an intern in a bank, where his legendary success took off.
In 1956, the young economist moved to the USA and worked as an arbitrage trader for F.M. Mayer specializing in European stocks of the European Coal and Steel Community, which were gaining popularity among the US institutional investors. In 1969, George Soros became the founder of his first hedge fund, Double Eagle (then Quantum Fund). In 1970, Soros founded another hedge fund, Soros Fund Management.
One day has divided his life into “before” and “after”. This day was aptly named "Black Wednesday." On Wednesday 16th September 1992, Soros took an enormous short position against the British pound and made a killing earning $1 billion! In 1993, George Soros had the highest profit on Wall Street, he used a macroeconomic approach examining all the corresponding factors to analyze the market and determine the best times to enter and exit investments. Besides financial speculations, Soros is a world-known philanthropist whose charitable donations amounted to at least $32 billion in more than 25 countries. By 2023, George Soros's personal wealth has been estimated at $6.7 billion.
Stanley Druckenmiller
Stanley Druckenmiller is an extraordinary person in the world of finances. He is an American billionaire, investor, trader, and founder of Duquesne Capital. Druckenmiller is one of the leading and the most successful economists on Wall Street. Stanley Druckenmiller belongs to a modest American family. In 1975, he got a BA in English and economics from Bowdoin College. Then he entered the University of Michigan to obtain a Ph.D. in economics, which he in due course dropped out, choosing the career of oil analyst at the Pittsburgh National Bank. In 1977, now a newly minted economist, he became the head of the bank’s research department, and four years later founded his own company, Duquesne Capital.
In 1988, George Soros saw potential in Stanley Druckenmiller and hired him at Quantum Fund. Soon after, Druckenmiller and Soros “broke the Bank of England” in 1992 by shorting about five billion British pounds and making a $1 billion profit.
After leaving the Quantum Fund in 2000, Stanley Druckenmiller returned to his Duquesne Capital fund, which then started generating exceptional profits. Stanley Druckenmiller is a very talented Forex trader who impresses with his ability to predict the market and benefit from its movements at the speed of light. Druckenmiller states that traders should immediately exit losing trades. He also believes that flexibility and portfolio diversification are crucial for success and stability. Stanley Druckenmiller’s net wealth is estimated at $6.4 billion.
Joe Lewis
Joe Lewis is a British Forex trader with an interesting history. Now, he is among the wealthiest people in the United Kingdom, his net wealth is estimated at $5.6 billion. Joe Lewis started to work at 15, helping to run his family’s catering business. Since then, he tried to improve the business in any possible way and eventually succeeded in selling it for £30 million, becoming a millionaire even before he started his Forex career.
Lewis reached undeniable success on “Black Wednesday” in 1992, along with those legendary traders we’ve already mentioned in this paper. The trader didn’t stop, and three years later, he profited from short-selling the Mexican Peso. No doubt, his winning strategy is short-selling currencies when they are at their worst.
Joe Lewis says that traders should expand their risk tolerance, pay attention to the position sizing and bet on liquid currencies. The legend is convinced that modesty is the key.
Steven Cohen
Steven Cohen is one of the wealthiest people in the world, ranked 92nd in the Forbes list of the world's billionaires as of May 30, 2023, his net wealth is about $17.5 billion. The future billionaire was born and raised in a multi-child family whose father was a dress manufacturer and mother a piano teacher. Steven Cohen got a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. While studying, he was keen on poker, where he gained risk tolerance, quickness of mind, and the ability to concentrate.
Right after graduation, Cohen became a junior trader in the options arbitrage department at Gruntal & Co., where he immediately made the company $8000 profit. The profits he generated for the company continued to grow exponentially and soon reached $100000 a day. Soon, the young trader got a position of manager, with a $75 million portfolio and six traders. In 1992, when Steven Cohen was 35, he founded his hedge fund, S.A.C. Capital Advisors. By 2009, the company was managing a portfolio $14 billion.
By 2008 however, Cohen was facing problems with finances and the law. However, despite legal bans and fines, he still multiplied his wealth and is recognized as one of the world's leading Forex traders.
What's Cohen's secret of success? Undeniably, this man has a way to feel the market movements and is convinced that well-coordinated teamwork is vital in trading. Moreover, Cohen believes that learning the trade's economic details is unnecessary. He trades quickly and is sure that charts are ruling the market.
Bill Lipschutz
Every Forex trader knows about Bill Lipschutz, a masterful trader who has reached the pinnacle of successful Forex traders. Lipschutz is a director of Portfolio Management for Hathersage Capital Management. His current net wealth is estimated at $2 billion. Bill Lipschutz grew up in New York. He was a genius kid with a talent in Math. Lipschutz was studying for a bachelor's degree at Cornell University, where he started his trading journey with inherited stocks worth $12 thousand, and soon turned them into a $250 thousand portfolio. Despite a lucky start, the young trader had both ups and downs. Due to inexperience, lack of proper risk management, and overconfidence, Lipschutz went through a losing streak and almost lost everything. However, he didn't give up on his dream and continued to improve as a trader.
In 1982, Bill Lipschutz became a Salomon Brothers team member and soon after got a position in the newly opened Forex Department. Lipschutz didn't keep the company waiting too long and started to bring in to the firm about $300 million annually. In 1990, Mr. Lipschutz left the Salomon Brothers and, up until 1995, served in supervisory posts of numerous companies. In 1995, the trader founded his own investment company, Hathersage Capital Management LLC, where he is the principal and director of Portfolio Management. Lipschutz and his team work with G10 currencies and consistently make significant profits. Rumors say the company's daily income is $250 thousand.
Bill Lipschutz believes that the risk-reward ratio is vital in trading. He states that the perfect risk-reward ratio is 3:1, where for each $1 of risk, traders should make $3 of profit. The professional advises you to determine stop-loss and take-profit limits, develop trading discipline.
Andy Krieger
Anybody who wants to learn about the world’s leading Forex traders should read about Andy Krieger. This man became famous for his aggressive manner of trading and breaking the New Zealand Central Bank, where he made a $300 million profit for Bankers Trust, the firm he was working with. Specifically, in 1987, Krieger opened a huge short position against NZD which suppressed the whole money reserves of New Zealand. Eventually, the lack of New Zealand’s national currency caused a sharp drop in NZD value, letting Andy Krieger make huge profits for Bankers Trust.
Andy Krieger says that comprehensive market analysis is irreplaceable in determining its potential movements and making winning trades. The net wealth of Andy Krieger is not publicly disclosed.
Bruce Kovner
Bruce Kovner was born into a family who migrated from Russia to the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. He was a child of many talents graduating from high school with honors. While studying at Harvard University, Kovner continued to demonstrate his flexibility, changing many jobs and learning various things, from playing harpsichord to political practice. In 1977, Bruce Kovner began his trading career by multiplying his funds up to $20 thousand through soybean futures trade. Then, Kovner got a job in Commodities Corporation, where he was successfully making millions in profits for the firm under the leadership of Michael Markus. In 1983, Bruce Kovner founded his own global macro hedge fund Caxton Associates. The company was thriving, and at its best, the volume of investments reached about $14 billion.
Initially, Kovner and his team traded in commodities - oil, salt, and copper futures. However, due to the growth of the company’s fund, he decided to trade on more liquid markets moving into Forex. By the end of the 80s, the funds profit share from currency trading was more than 50%.
As one of the most legendary traders, Bruce Kovner thinks that the key to success is to build a reliable risk management plan and know your exit points before opening positions. According to Forbes, the current net wealth of Bruce Kovner is $6.6 billion.
What makes Forex traders the best?
Now that you are familiar with brief biographies of the most successful Forex traders, you've probably noticed some common traits of these traders which helped them to reach the top:
Trading discipline. All the top traders emphasize the importance of discipline in trading. Forex traders must stay disciplined in their trading because only self-control and self-management allow them to survive in the long run and have stable returns. As a part of trading discipline, every trader highlights the importance of a reliable risk management plan.
- Risk tolerance. As Joe Lewis said, risk tolerance is critical. Winning traders are those who are totally fine with taking risks and accepting losses.
- Confidence. The best Forex traders are always confident when they resist market pressure and unpredictability. It is a confidence that allows Forex traders to achieve their goals and become successful, relying on their analysis and ignoring the crowd.
- Commitment. The top traders constantly expand their trading horizons, investing time and effort. To become successful, you should love what you do and dedicate yourself to put in the required time to ensure success.
- Emotional control. A top trader's key trait is knowing how to control emotions and staying cool-headed and unbiased when the fear of missing out or random reinforcement cloud his mind.
- Patience. Since the Forex market is not easy to predict, there may be no good entry points. The best traders wait for the perfect moment, even if it takes hours, days, or weeks.
- Teamwork. Every successful trader is well aware of a team's significance. When you have supporters with whom you can share ideas, ask for help, and solve problems through joint efforts, making successful trades and growing as a trader is much easier.
Conclusion
To sum up, all the best Forex traders have inspiring and mouth-dropping results. Generally, these people came from ordinary middle-class families and were hard workers from an early age. These outstanding professionals steadily demonstrate quickness of mind, patience, the ability to take risks, and control of their emotions. Some of these traders have big hearts and donate enormous funds for the benefit of society. If you are a Forex trader who wants to attain high achievements, learning the journey of those who succeed and conquer the world is essential. Learn more about trading with the FBS broker.
