Today we will dive into the business of George Soros, a trader and manager who became a true legend. We will consider three Soros's trades with currency that made him a celebrity of the financial world.
Who is George Soros
George Soros is a trader, investor, and manager considered by many to be one of the most successful financiers of these days. For long he used to be the manager of the Quantum hedge fund that used to demonstrate stable annual profitability of 30% from 1970 through 2000. Also, he created a network of grantinh institutions known as the Soros Fund.
He was born in Hungary in 1930. After the World War II was over, he left for England to study at the London School of Economy. Upon graduating, he went to New York and began his banking career, later leaving for a broker company. Many years later, he formed the Soros Fund Management that became a part of the mentioned Quantum Fund.
Over the years of active work, Soros made several impressive trades and investments. He is one of the most famous investors in the financial world, known for making trades with currencies that are huge even for the global financial world. Soros's capital in 2022 was above 8 billion USD. Moreover, he donatef more than 30 billion USD on charity and political projects.
Legendary Soros’s trades with currencies
Let us take a look at threw Soros's trades with currencies that made him wealthy and famous.
British pound: George Soros and Black Wednesday for the Bank of England
Soros's Forex stake against the British pound is called one of the greatest currency trades of the modern world. Great Britain joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1991, when inflation was high and interest rates were low. By this mechanism, the government planned to hold the exchange rate of the national currency at 2.7 German mark per pound.
However, there was no good reason for such a rate, firstly because inflation in Britain at that time was much higher than in Germany. Being an economist, Soros noticed that the pound was seriously overestimated against the German mark, and un summer 1992 started making stakes against the British currency via his Quantum fund. The total sum of the trade is evaluated as about 5 billion pounds.
To hold back the rate and attract investors, Great Britain increased the interest rates above 10% but this never helped. Alongside Soros, many market players started selling the pound against the mark and dollar expecting the exchange rate to drop.
Soon the British government realised that it would have to spend a lot of money due to the extremely high rates and the necessity to hold the rate of the pound that high. Apart from that, German authorities publicly announced possible reorganization inside the ERM.
On 16 September 1992, the British government decided to leave the ERM and unbind the pound, and this day got the name of Black Wednesday. As a result, the British pound abruptly dropped by 15% against the German mark and by 25% against the USD. By different evaluations, Soros made about 1 billion USD on this trade.