The Greatest Trades of All Time: Top Traders Making Big Profits from the Crash of 1929 to Today

CHAPTER 7

George Soros: From Humble Beginnings to World Trader

George Soros is a legend among the hedge fund community. Coming from a humble background, Soros has become one of the most internationally adept traders in the history of the modern financial markets. His life has been chock-full of trials and tribulations, which have molded his business philosophy into a refined machine that has generated countless returns for his investors as well as created him a personal fortune of over $14 billion.

Born in 1930, Soros's life started in Budapest, Hungary, during the tumultuous times of Nazi expansion into Eastern Europe. Coming from a Jewish family, he spent his early years hiding from people wishing to cause him harm.

After the war, Soros headed to England, where he attended the London School of Economics. There he picked up a lifelong passion for philosophy. After a short stint working in northern England, Soros had his first exposure to the financial markets working in the City as a commodities arbitrageur—a job that, he would later admit, he languished at.

When Soros moved to New York, he hit the ground running. As an expert in the European financial markets, he was a hot commodity in the recently protectionist United States. Soros soaked up all he could about working in the financial markets and quickly set off on his own. From there on, he built a reputation as an international trading legend, and the time defined the rest of his illustrious career.

SOROS'S FAMOUS TRADES ...