In this list, we will be looking at the most successful Forex traders, who have witnessed huge success in recent years. We will take a look at their background, net worth, and the success story behind them.
Nowadays, every major regulated FX broker is required to disclose the percentage of traders that lose money. And to many of us, it will come as a surprise that the vast majority of currency traders are actually losers. On average, anywhere between 55% to 85% (depending on the brokerage) of traders fail to generate an income.
However, in this guide, we will not be focusing our attention on the losers. Instead, we will tell you more about the best Forex traders out there, the ones that constitute the remaining 15% to 45% of the winners, and we will also examine useful tips on how to become one of them.
| Date of Birth: 1930 |
| Net Worth: 8.6 Billion USD |
| Nationality: American, Hungarian |
| Background: Economics |
George Soros is an icon in the world of Forex trading, and probably is the world's best Forex trader nowadays. Soros has donated over $32 billion in philanthropy during his long financial life.
He is known as “The Man Who Broke The Bank of England” after he short-sold the British pound for $10 billion and came out on top. This one trade made Soros a profit of $1 billion in just one day. He made this move after witnessing a gap in the UK banking system. This day now lives in infamy and has been given the name “Black Wednesday”.
After this massive short by Soros, the National Bank of England was forced to reassess its monetary policy in terms of exchange rates, costing the UK Treasury an estimated £3.3 billion.
George Soros, who is the best Forex trader in the world, escaped Hungary which was then occupied by the Nazis during World War I. He received his financial education at the London School of Economics and started his financial career in a few financial institutions before establishing his first foundation, the “Soros Fund Management” in 1970.
“I’m only rich because I know when I’m wrong.” - George Soros
Soros has written many books on Forex trading, making him the most successful Forex trader in the world.
| Date of Birth: 1953 |
| Net Worth: 6.8 Billion USD |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Economics |
Coming from a middle-class family, Stanley engaged in investment and trading from the early stages of his career. He received his BA in English and economics from Bowdoin College. He later dropped out of a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan.
He started his financial career in 1977 at Pittsburgh National Bank, before establishing his own fund called Duquesne Capital Management. A hedge fund that ran for over 30 years and is the main source of his wealth.
Stanley was George Soros’s partner in the popular “Black Wednesday” event and by working alongside the best Forex trader in the world, he managed to gain a lot of experience.
After 11 years as a lead portfolio manager at Soros’s Quantum fund, Stanley left the fund and wanted to focus on his own hedge fund. He closed it after 30 years of operations, where he generated more than $12 billion.
Druckenmiller stated that investors' growing expectations for his fund, along with the massive capital being handled, were the main reasons he decided to close his firm Duquesne Capital Management.
As one of the top Forex traders in the world, Stanley’s trading strategy is very easily distinguishable, as he focuses on risk and opportune timing. He has said many times that a trader should maximize gains when the trade is going in the right direction, and try to minimize the damage whenever it does not. This made him excel at risk management and capital preservation.
"Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket very carefully" - Stanley Druckenmiller
| Date of Birth: 1955 |
| Net Worth: N/A |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Finance |
After a stint at Salomon Brothers Investment Bank and Banker’s Trust in 1986, he gained a reputation for his aggressive trading of the New Zealand dollars.
He gained his reputation as one of the world's best Forex traders, after also getting involved in the events that lead to the famous “Black Monday” crash of 1987. Unlike his counterparts, he focused on short-selling the New Zealand dollar, which actually caused the country to run out of NZD supplies and as a result, netted him a huge return of $300 million.
The result of his actions caused the NZD to lose 5% of its value against the US dollar. The New Zealand government and central bank were not happy potatoes. After this, they demanded that his employer, Banker’s Trust, take Krieger out of circulation because he was somehow able to one-handedly destroy a whole country's economy.
Shortly after that, Andy left Banker’s Trust. The reason for his departure was due to the poor commissions that he received on this trade, because his employer simply could not understand how the trade was possible or how Andy managed to pull it off.
"Initially I made some money in, actually it was in graduate school, I mean, I would stand around in the hallways and the payphone and I grabbed the payphone and I started buying and selling shares.." - Andy Krieger
Eventually, Andy worked with George Soros in Soros Fund Management, and shortly after that, he founded his own firms, Northbridge Capital Management Inc. and Krieger & Associates Ltd.
| Date of Birth: 1956 |
| Net Worth: 3 Billion USD |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Architecture Design |
Despite having no financial background, Bill shifted into the world of finance and Forex after being an architecture design student in the late 1970s.
One of his first successes came when he successfully turned an inherited $12,000 into $250,000 through stock trading. Soon after he made a wrong bad trade which ended up causing him to lose all that money in one shot. He then switched his focus to currency trading.
“The most successful traders have the ability to learn from their mistakes and adjust their strategies accordingly.” – Bill Lipschutz
In the 1980s, he worked for Salomon Brothers investment bank, where “the sultan of currencies” made his mark as a top 10 Forex trader and became the main trader for the company. Over a six years period, he managed to make around $300 million per annum for his employer.
His Forex trading philosophy revolves around risk management, being informed and aware of everything happening in the market, and taking the right decisions at the right time.
He stressed that minimizing risk is more important than making the right decision because this market is not solely dependent on the trader’s decision. This is a philosophy that was shared by another billionaire, Stanley Druckenmiller.
| Date of Birth: 1945 |
| Net Worth: 6.2 Billion USD |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Political economics |
Bruce started his career as a cab driver. At the age of 32, he started trading and put $3,000 on his credit card to trade soybean futures. Surprisingly this investment grew and by the time he sold, had turned it into $23,000, which marked the start of his career as a successful trader.
Firstly, he put his attention and effort into commodities trading. He became a trader in the financial services company Commodities Corporation, where he managed to gain a reputation as a prominent commodity trader.
His success in commodities trading led him to establish his own company called the Caxton. The wealth gained through managing this company placed him on the level of George Soros and made him one of the top 5 Forex traders in the world. This was made possible by the fact that his focus was mainly on commodities and Forex trading.
Caxton is still considered one of the most successful and profitable funds of all time. The fund alone is worth around 12 billion USD in assets and has witnessed a loss in just one of its 20 years of operations. Besides that, the fund is achieving returns of 21% which is well above average when compared to the S&P 500 index’s 11%.
“I almost always trade on a market view; I don’t trade simply on technical information. I use technical analysis a great deal and it is terrific, but I can’t hold a position unless I understand why the market should move.” – Bruce Kovner
Today, besides Forex, Bruce is focusing on philanthropy and charity work, something that he has always wanted to do since he was a Harvard University student. Besides this, he is also sitting on the board of several corporations.
| Date of Birth: 1954 |
| Net Worth: 7.3 billion USD |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Economics |
After graduating from the University of Virginia with a bachelor's degree in economics, he started his career as a trading clerk in the New York Stock Exchange. Paul turned down an offer to continue his studies at Harvard Business School and chose to rather continue working as a commodity trader at the NYSE.
"I'm always thinking about losing money as opposed to making money. Don't focus on making money, focus on protecting what you have" - Paul Tudor Jones
His reputation as one of the top Forex traders in the world came from his participation in the market crash of 1987. This day is known as “Black Monday”, and he aggressively short-sold stocks, a move that gained his firm a profit of $100 million.
Another famous move by Paul, was when he saw a deterioration in the Japanese yen. He purchased many positions against the yen, and as the JPY lost value against major currencies, Paul realized a 20% return on his investments.
In 1980, Paul founded his hedge fund, named “Tudor Investment Corporation”, a fund that focused on commodity and currencies trading. This fund is deemed one of the most profitable funds in the world, as it was reportedly making a 100% return during its first 5 years in operation.
As one of the biggest Forex traders, Paul has founded a foundation focused on philanthropy called the Robin Hood Foundation. This foundation focuses on assisting low-income families and fighting against poverty.
| Date of Birth: 1945 |
| Net Worth: 4.7 billion USD |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Trading |
Martin made the majority of his wealth in trading. With an MBA from Columbia University, it is not surprising that he has spent most of his life involved in the markets, and has made a good deal of money in this field.
He managed to grow his trading account from $40,000 to $20 million by trading. This made him one of the most successful Forex traders in the world. He is also known for attaining earnings of 1000% per year, over the course of seven years.
He is a trading guru, who has won several trading championships, wherein most of them he made more profit than all the other participants combined.
"Successful investing takes time, discipline and patience." - Martin S. Schwartz
A Wall Street trader who started his journey as a fundamental analyst for almost 9 years, he went on to become a technical analyst, which set him on the path to making his fortune. His reputation as one of the top Forex traders came from his discipline and his endeavor to make money.
His trading philosophy was not to go with the flow. He sees the foreign exchange market as a battlefield where every other trader is his enemy and was setting plans to win every single battle.
Top traders admired Martin for his dedication. It is said that he was trading during the day and studying at night, to continually learn and find new ways of making money. He has also published a book called “Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street's Champion Day Trader”.
| Date of Birth: 1941 |
| Net Worth: 100 million USD |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Music |
Larry suffered in the early stages of his life. He suffered from blindness in one eye and weak-sightedness in the other. Later he discovered that he had dyslexia, and was unable to learn was struggling to understand even the basics at school.
In the beginning, he wanted to be a music promoter, and he was serious about promoting rock music. Among other things, he put his hand to screenwriting, but for random reasons, decided to start trading.
Larry became a successful Forex trader due to his strategy in trading. He has been involved in trading commodities, Forex, and stocks, and kept a focus on long-term earnings.
He treated trading as a gambling game, where you cannot predict the future, rather, you are betting against the odds, and if you don’t bet, you cannot win.
His strategy was based on risk management. He was known as a “trend trader” as he was following the flow and would bet big if he saw the market was moving.
"We approach markets backwards. The first thing we ask is not what can we make, but how much can we lose. We play a defensive game." - Larry Hite
As a famous Forex trader, he won reverence for trading coffee beans. After studying the 50-year history of weather patterns and changes. He kept his trade in coffee from the time that it was traded for $0.60 a pound until the price rose to $3.10 per pound, netting him $12 million in earnings.
His philosophy was based on risk aversion. He believed that you cannot get successful trades when the odds are against you, or when you are on a losing trade. His attitude towards trading tells us to trade big when the chances of winning are high, and minimize the risks when the winning chances are low.
| Date of Birth: 1950 |
| Net Worth: 1-5 million USD |
| Nationality: Russian |
| Background: Psychiatry |
Alexander Elder is a Russian psychiatrist, who started his career as a doctor before seeking asylum in the United States. After his arrival in the US, he started teaching at Columbia University and became a New York City psychiatrist.
Besides his work as a psychiatrist, he was interested in trading and looked at it from a different perspective. He tried to use his knowledge and his profession and apply it to Forex trading.
He quickly became successful and is still one of the top Forex traders in 2021-2022. He developed a new method of trading called the “triple screen trading system” which calls for more analysis before starting any trade.
Alexander was fond of technical analysis and held a belief that the market was very complex. He believed that a successful trader should be aware of everything around the market and must have flawless money management skills to land successful trades.
As one of the best Forex traders in the world, Alexander has published many books to spread his theories and perspectives. One of his works became a bestseller and is called “Come Into My Trading Room”.
“The goal of a successful trader is to make the best trades. Money is secondary.” - Alexander Elder
| Date of Birth: 1948 |
| Net Worth: N/A |
| Nationality: American |
| Background: Trading |
Jack received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Economics, and since then, has been identified as one of the top 10 Forex traders in the world. He has a long history of working in investment corporations and fund associations.
As the founder and co-founder of many hedge funds, he knows what's up when it comes to investing in the FX market. Along with all his other ventures, Jack is a chief research officer at FundSeeder, a company that provides assistance for undiscovered talents that lack funds to reach their goals.
After working for 10 years as a commodity trading advisor, Jack is currently working as a co-portfolio manager at the ADM Investor Services Diversified Strategies Fund, where he specializes in handling futures and Forex accounts.
Besides being considered one of the best Forex traders alive today, Jack has also dedicated a great amount of time to writing and has published many books and articles over the years. In total, he has written around 10 books about futures, options, Forex, and hedge funds.
With all the rest of it, Jack is also working as an advisor for some reputable firms on Wall Street, as well as international firms such as Catalytic Investment Group Pte Ltd.
"Traders focus almost entirely on where to enter a trade. In reality, the entry size is often more important than the entry price" - Jack D. Schwager
He has a series of best-selling books, including Market Wizards, The New Market Wizards, and Stock Market Wizards.
Not every Forex guru started off rich, everyone started almost from the same place but ended up in different places.
Bill Lipschutz, one of the top Forex traders in the world, had absolutely no relevant background in Forex. He was a designer who one day decided to start trading. After a win in the market, he soon lost all the money that he inherited. Naturally, anyone would have given up at this point, but not Bill. He was dedicated to becoming a successful Forex trader and his perseverance paid off.
Forex is not an easy income source. It requires a lot of discipline and focus. You need to keep an eye on the long-term gains because everyone makes mistakes, even the biggest trading masterminds have failed a few times before becoming wealthy.
With the advent of the internet, everyone now has the opportunity to become one of the best Forex traders in the world.
We can conclude that the main 5 traits shared by the biggest Forex traders in the world are as follows:
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George Soros. George is considered by many to be the top Forex trader of all time due to the fortune he built from trading FX. Today he is worth more than 8 billion USD.
Charting software, trading platforms, economic calendars, and financial news, among many other tools. These tools provide traders with technical analysis and give them a heads-up on financial events, helping them to make the right decision.
USD, GBP, EUR, and JPY are the most traded currencies used by the top Forex traders. Any pair of these currencies are highly traded in the Forex market since they are the most used currencies around the world.
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