There is a reason London has always been regarded as a pinnacle of most foreign exchange (forex or FX) trades. Historically, it has always been at the centre of financial transactions in the market. Data from Finance Magnates reveals that about 43% of the overall market transactions occurred in the city as of 2019 before dropping to 38% in 2022. Whether it’s the former or the latter, we cannot deny how the numbers here dominate other locations and regions.
These numbers could be linked to the rich base of investment firms, companies, hedge funds, brokerage platforms, and every other finance resource in the city. The people also make up a considerable percentage of these resources, and we’ve been able to trace some of the wealthiest investors across the globe to the terrains of London.
Michael Platt
Michael Platt would surely come up when discussing the biggest London traders in the forex scene. He started with a humble beginning, trading in the city with shares given to him by his grandmother. Michael joined J.P. Morgan in 1991, accelerating his career to become the head of trading for swaps products in Euro currency. His exceptional skills in trading forex contributed to how much he could build wealth and a colony for himself. Michael Platt was a co-founder and CEO of BlueCrest Capital Management, a company he started in the late 2000s after working at J.P. Morgan for over a decade. Michael Platt’s worth today is 18 billion USD. Although he spent many days in London, he now resides in Geneva, Switzerland.
Chris Hohn
With a net worth of $9.5 billion, Chris Hohn is another notable figure who has built wealth in the forex scene. He attended the University of Southampton, where he graduated with first-class honours. After graduating, he kick-started his career as an investor in the financial market while working for the private equity group Apax Partners in 1994. Chris worked there for some time, and by 1996, he had become an employee at Perry Capital, a hedge fund operating on Wall Street. He eventually used these experiences to set up a London-based hedge fund in 2003, naming it The Children’s Investment Fund. He is a charitable individual who has invested a lot in giving back to society.
Joe Lewis
Joe Lewis wasn’t initially a forex trader. In his early life, he helped build his family’s catering business in Central London, which he eventually sold to begin his investment career. He was a natural businessman and had succeeded in growing it to be worth about £30 million when he sold it in 1979. He began trading at this point and had his most significant investment career break when he bet against the Bank of England alongside some other notable speculators, including George Coros. Joe’s position in this trade earned him billions as it was when the pound crashed out from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992, an event popularly termed Black Wednesday. This occurrence earned him the title of forex trading tycoon in London. His net worth today is $6.3 billion.
Alan Howard
Alan Howard co-founded the famous hedge fund Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP. Forbes listed him amongst the top 40 highest-ranking hedge fund managers as of February 2013. He schooled and graduated from the Imperial College London, holding a master’s degree in Engineering. His forex trading career can be traced back to his time as an employer for the Salomo Brothers, where he rendered his services in the ECU euro bond market. Howard is also a major cryptocurrency investor, having purchased over $60 million of Bitcoin and Ethereum. His total holding in Web3 investment accumulated to nearly $1 billion in 2021.
Eileen Burbidge
British-American venture capitalist Eileen Burbridge is another trader and investor inspiring many beginners and veterans in the sector today. She is the founder and partner of Passion Capital, an early venture capital company that made some investments in enterprises like Monzo, Go Cardless and Lulu. Her early career began with marketing at big companies such as Apple and Sun Microsystems. She started her venture capitalist in 2008, and her career went uphill. Her VC funds have ventured into over 100 tech investments, with over $1.29 billion in value. By October 2020, Burbridge was listed on Computer Weekly’s list of most influential women in the UK Tech Hall of Fame.
Steven Bartlett
Steven Bartlett is an investor, a British entrepreneur, and a renowned podcaster. He is the youngest on this list and is valued at nearly 300 million pounds. He started showing up as an investor on the BBC One Show Dragon’s Den in 2021. Before then, Steven had a series of live events that secured his name amongst the top investors in the sector. He started his private equity company called Catena Capital in 2020 and joined the board of directors of Huel, a food replacement company valued at 72 million pounds.
Could You Also Become Rich Trading Forex?
One of the things you might have noticed about these leading individuals in the finance and investment sector is that they are from varying backgrounds. This is one of the main perks of the foreign exchange sector. Anyone can pursue that career, regardless of educational background or origin. It is noteworthy that a lot of them also started small. These facts indicate that you can grow to become as successful as these individuals with adequate learning, practice, and a solid strategy.
Feature image by Marga Santoso on Unsplash
