Famous traders

46 people, A–Z. Starting source: Wikipedia. Not a list of role models: some are famous for losses or fraud.

Benjamin Graham · 1894–1976 · Value investing
Investor and Columbia professor, author of Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor, often called the father of value investing. source
Bernard Baruch · 1870–1965 · Speculation
American financier and speculator, later adviser to US presidents. source
Bill Ackman · 1966– · Activist investing
Founder of Pershing Square Capital Management; known for activist campaigns and a large Herbalife short. source
Bruce Kovner · 1945– · Macro
Founder of Caxton Associates; interviewed in Market Wizards. source
Carl Icahn · 1936– · Activist investing
Activist investor known for corporate raids and shareholder campaigns. source
Cathie Wood · 1955– · Thematic investing
Founder of ARK Invest, known for funds focused on disruptive technology. source
Charles Dow · 1851–1902 · Dow theory
Co-founder of Dow Jones & Company and the Wall Street Journal; his writings formed Dow theory. source
Charlie Munger · 1924–2023 · Investing, mental models
Vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Buffett's partner, known for his talks on psychology and multidisciplinary thinking. source
David Harding · 1961– · Systematic trading
Founder of Winton Group, a quantitative investment manager. source
David Tepper · 1957– · Distressed debt
Founder of Appaloosa Management, known for distressed-debt investing and bank stock purchases in 2009. source
Ed Seykota · 1946– · Systematic trend following
Pioneer of computerised trend-following systems for commodity futures; interviewed in Market Wizards. source
Edward O. Thorp · 1932– · Quant
Mathematician who developed blackjack card counting and ran an early quant hedge fund. source
George Soros · 1930– · Global macro
Founder of Soros Fund Management; known for the 1992 bet against the British pound and his theory of reflexivity. source
Hetty Green · 1834–1916 · Investing
American investor known as the 'Witch of Wall Street', among the richest women of her time. source
Howard Marks · 1946– · Credit investing
Co-founder of Oaktree Capital; known for his client memos and The Most Important Thing. source
Jesse Livermore · 1877–1940 · Speculator
American stock and commodity speculator who started in bucket shops. He was reported to profit from short positions in the 1907 panic and the 1929 crash, and went bankrupt several times. Basis of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. source
Jim Rogers · 1942– · Commodities, macro
Co-founded the Quantum Fund with Soros; later created a commodity index. source
Jim Simons · 1938–2024 · Quantitative investing
Mathematician and founder of Renaissance Technologies, whose Medallion Fund used mathematical models. source
Joel Greenblatt · 1957– · Value investing
Founder of Gotham Capital and author of The Little Book That Beats the Market. source
John C. Bogle · 1929–2019 · Index investing
Founder of Vanguard who launched one of the first index funds for individual investors. source
John Paulson · 1955– · Event-driven
Hedge fund manager who profited from betting against subprime mortgages in 2007. source
John Templeton · 1912–2008 · Global value investing
Founder of the Templeton funds, known for contrarian global investing. source
John W. Henry · 1949– · Trend following
Founded a systematic futures management firm; later owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC. source
Joseph Kennedy Sr. · 1888–1969 · Speculation
Investor active in 1920s markets who became the first chairman of the SEC in 1934. source
Julian Robertson · 1932–2022 · Hedge funds
Founder of Tiger Management; many former staff later ran 'Tiger Cub' funds. source
Ken Griffin · 1968– · Hedge fund / market making
Founder of Citadel and co-founder of Citadel Securities. source
Larry Williams · 1942– · Futures trading
American commodity trader and author; won the 1987 Robb Cup futures contest with a reported very large percentage return. source
Michael Burry · 1971– · Value, contrarian
Founder of Scion Capital who bet against subprime mortgages; portrayed in The Big Short. source
Michael Marcus · 1947– · Commodities
Commodity trader interviewed in Market Wizards; mentor of Bruce Kovner. source
Michael Steinhardt · 1940– · Hedge funds
Early hedge fund manager known for aggressive short-term trading. source
Muriel Siebert · 1928–2013 · Brokerage
First woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (1967). source
Nicolas Darvas · 1920–1977 · Box method
Dancer who described his stock trading 'box' method in How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market. source
Paul Tudor Jones · 1954– · Macro, futures
Founder of Tudor Investment Corporation; widely reported to have profited during the 1987 crash. Featured in Market Wizards and the 1987 documentary Trader. source
Peter Lynch · 1944– · Growth investing
Managed Fidelity's Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990 and wrote One Up on Wall Street. source
Philip Fisher · 1907–2004 · Growth investing
Author of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. source
Ray Dalio · 1949– · Macro
Founder of Bridgewater Associates, author of Principles. source
Richard Dennis · 1949– · Commodity trading
Chicago commodity trader known for the 'Turtle' experiment with William Eckhardt. source
Richard Wyckoff · 1873–1934 · Technical analysis
Early technical analyst whose price-and-volume method is still taught. source
Seth Klarman · 1957– · Value investing
Manager of Baupost Group; author of the out-of-print Margin of Safety. source
Stanley Druckenmiller · 1953– · Global macro
Ran Duquesne Capital and was lead portfolio manager of Soros's Quantum Fund, including during the 1992 pound trade. source
Steven A. Cohen · 1956– · Hedge funds
Founder of SAC Capital (which pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2013) and later Point72. source
Thomas Peterffy · 1944– · Electronic trading
Founder of Interactive Brokers and a pioneer of computerised trading. source
Victor Niederhoffer · 1943– · Speculation
Statistician and speculator whose funds suffered large losses in 1997 and 2007; author of The Education of a Speculator. source
W. D. Gann · 1878–1955 · Technical analysis
Trader known for geometric and time-cycle methods; many claims about his record are disputed. source
Warren Buffett · 1930– · Value investing
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; a student of Graham. Known for long-term ownership of businesses and annual shareholder letters. source
William O'Neil · 1933–2023 · Growth stocks
Founder of Investor's Business Daily and creator of the CAN SLIM method. source

Last checked: 2026-11-04 · Plain links, no affiliate IDs. Inclusion is not an endorsement. Educational, not financial advice.

Education only, not financial advice. No signals. Backtests are hypothetical: real trading can be worse. Past results don't predict future results.