You’ve heard of some of the world’s most famous traders. Maybe you’re a fan of George Soros, and maybe Warren Buffett is your hero. Maybe you think Jesse Livermore was just lucky. But what about Peter Lynch and Benjamin Graham? How about Bernard Baruch? In this article, we’ll explore the lives and careers of those traders who have made their mark on history. Notably, they were more than just investors—they were trendsetters in their fields who changed how people think about trading forever.
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Table of Contents
Most Famous Traders of All Time List
1. George Soros
George Soros is first on our list of the most famous traders of all time. He is a Hungarian-born investor and philanthropist. He is famous for his Quantum Fund, which he started in 1973 and became a billionaire.
In 1992, Soros made $1 billion by shorting the British pound against the Deutsche Mark when it was on the verge of collapse. This was due to speculation that Britain would have to withdraw from Europe’s Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). This earned him the nickname “The Man Who Broke The Bank Of England.”
Soros’ trading strategy involves going long when he thinks prices will rise and shorting when they’re set to fall. That’s a no-brainer. However, he also uses macroeconomic factors such as interest rates and political events as they’ll impact what investments will do well in specific market environments.
If you’re unsure what shorting a stock is, head over to the Bullish Bears blog, where we have many posts and videos on short stocks.
2. Warren Buffett: The Oracle of Omaha
Warren Buffett, one of the most famous traders of all time, is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Buffett has been referred to as the “Wizard of Omaha,” “Oracle of Omaha,” or “Sage of Omaha” and is noted for his adherence to value investing and for his frugality despite his immense wealth.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Buffett also runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which he founded in 1955 with $100 million. Put in perspective, that $100 million is worth about $900 million today. Currently, Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 80 subsidiary companies outright. These companies include:
car insurance companies like GEICO,
railroad companies such as BNSF,
Dairy Queen,
Fruit of the Loom, and
holding companies for other investments such as Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
Buffett is also known for his intelligent investments in marketable securities. He is a prolific reader and has been consistently ranked among the wealthiest people in the world. Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 30, 1930.
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3. Peter Lynch: Legendary Magellan Fund Manager
Peter Lynch is a famous investor who managed the Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990. The fund performed so well during his tenure that it became one of the largest mutual funds in America, with assets of $14 billion at its peak.
Notably, the fund earned an annualized return of 29.2% during his time. It earned more than twice what the S&P 500 earned during that time.
In addition to being an excellent manager and investor, Peter Lynch was also known as a value investor who bought good companies at reasonable prices. His strategy was simple: find good stocks (with strong earnings growth potential), buy them when they are cheap relative to their intrinsic values, and hold onto them until they become expensive again–or go out of business!
Peter Lynch’s investment strategy is different from that of other investors. For example, he did not like buying stocks considered “glamorous” in the eyes of Wall Street. Instead, he looked for solid companies with good earnings growth potential.
While at the same time ignoring the noise created by analysts and other investors who were chasing hot stocks. This made him one of the most famous traders of all time.
4. Benjamin Graham: Father of Value Investing
Benjamin Graham is the father of value investing and one of the most famous traders ever. He coined the phrase “margin of safety” and many other terms used today in finance (such as intrinsic value).
He was also the first person to use Mr. Market’s name. Comically, it was about an imaginary stock market personality who changes his mind daily about what he thinks your shares are worth.
What is value investing? Value investing is a trading strategy whereby you buy low-priced stocks that have been beaten down by negative news.
While at the same time selling short, overpriced stocks. These overpriced stocks are rising on hype alone without solid evidence for their price increases.
If a company trades above its book value, it may be considered overvalued and not a good buy. However, if the stock price falls below book value, it becomes attractive as an investment. You can buy shares at a discount to their intrinsic value.
The goal here is not necessarily to make money immediately. In a sense, it is to avoid losses when markets decline. Declines could be due to the bearish sentiment among investors.
These investors want nothing more than for prices to go lower so they can sell at higher prices later on down the road. Overall, it means buying cheap assets before this happens to give some protection against losing money during bear markets (when prices tend towards zero).
Stock Signals & Alerts
5. Jesse Livermore: Buy Low/Sell High Strategy
Jesse Livermore is one of the most famous traders of all time. He was born in 1877 and died in 1940, but he had a long and successful career as a trader.
He started trading when he was 12 years old, so he had plenty of time to learn his craft before becoming an expert at Livermore’s trading strategy, which involved buying stocks when they were low and selling them when they were high–but not always immediately after buying them!
Jesse Livermore believed that waiting until prices were higher than what you paid for them would allow you to earn even more money per share than if you had sold right away. This strategy is called “buy low/sell high,” self-explanatory: buy low so that everyone else thinks something has gone down; wait until everyone thinks it has gone up again before selling your shares (and making money).
It may sound like a simple idea, but it’s not always easy. Livermore would sometimes hold on to his stocks for months or even years before selling them at a higher price than he paid.
He could do this because he had such a great understanding of the market. Livermore knew when it was going up and down–and how much it would fluctuate within each cycle.
6. Bernard Baruch
Bernard Baruch was a famous investor who made a fortune in the stock market. Hence, he’s on our list of the most famous traders ever. He was born in 1870 and died in 1965. Baruch was very wealthy but also very generous with his money. He gave away over 100 million dollars (over $1 billion today) before he died!
Baruch was born in 1870 into a Jewish family in South Carolina. His father died when he was 7, and his mother struggled to support him and his brother. Baruch left school at 14 to work as a clerk. He didn’t like it, so he started working at the local post office instead.
Baruch soon became a telegraph operator, and within two years, he was the chief of the station. He moved to New York City in 1887 and got a job at Western Union.
7. Philip Fisher: Father of Growth Investing
Philip Fisher is the father of growth investing. He’s famous for his book “Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits.” Within the book is his strategy of buying companies with strong competitive advantages and high capital returns.
Since then, many successful investors have followed this strategy, including Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch. Why is Philip Fisher one of the most famous traders of all time? Walgreens.
Walgreens was a relatively small company in 1965, with only 110 stores. But it had some key competitive advantages that made the company attractive to Fisher: Low costs, high returns on capital, and strong brand loyalty.
Walgreens also had a valuable patent on an innovative inventory system that enabled it to speed up the checkout process by 10%.
In 1965, Philip Fisher bought shares in Walgreens (then called Walgreen Drug Stores) at $8 per share–and he held onto them until they hit $95 per share in 1972! That is an amazing return on investment after just seven years!
Final Thoughts: Most Famous Traders of All Time
These seven people are the best at what they do, which is why they’re some of the most famous traders. They have made billions of dollars, written books and speeches about their experiences, and become famous because they were good at what they did (trading).
Take this as inspiration. If they can, you can do it. A great place to start is with Bullish Bears. We can help you grow your modest $100 into a fortune like Livermore!
