Trader John Arnold
When studying the stories of successful traders, one almost always sees a pattern of capital growth with the age of its owner.
It was the major stockbrokers who achieved their success by acquiring a vast wealth of knowledge and spending at least 20 years on the exchange. In fact, almost every beginning trader follows this same logic: after all, another year and I'll be better.
In fact, experience is a great teacher, but it has little to do with successful people. For example, stock market genius John Arnold made his billions by the age of 39, having become a millionaire long before that.
John Arnold's biography is an excellent example of how choosing the right path of development at the very beginning can help in the near future.
John Arnold did not go through the tough school of survival on the stock exchange floor, losing his deposit time and again, but luck accompanied him throughout his career.
John Arnold was born in 1974 to a typical middle-class family. His father earned a good living as a lawyer, and his mother was an accountant. John showed a love of numbers from childhood, and his mind was that of a child prodigy. So, after graduating from high school, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he enrolled at Vanderbilt University. Most remarkably, John Arnold graduated from Vanderbilt University in just three years and earned a degree.
First job
Phenomenal ability and a thirst for making money led John to Wall Street in 1995. His first job was as a practicing trader at energy giant Enron. What's most interesting is that the company was a leader in its industry at the time, so landing such a responsible position at such a young age was pure luck.
John initially specialized in oil tradingHowever, his performance in trading this asset was too poor, so he was transferred to natural gas trading. However, in 2000, John's mistake resulted in the company losing $200 million. For some reason, the trader wasn't fired, and believe me, he was.
Just a year later, thanks to the first newly developed trading platform, John Arnold brought his company nearly $1 billion in revenue. For this achievement, the company awarded him the largest bonus check in the company's history – $8 million.
Rats are fleeing the ship
Literally that same year, millions of investors received the devastating news: Enron was bankrupt. This news leaked entirely by accident, specifically after the company's deputy CEO committed suicide, and the CEO himself was sent to prison for many years. Enron's accountants managed to create over 600 subsidiaries and write off all the losses to them, presenting their investors with false reports.
John Arnold was likely aware of the company's manipulations, so literally before everyone knew Enron was bankrupt, he took his $8 million bonus check and left the company. Just a couple of days later, the company's stock price plummeted, and the energy market sank, losing liquidity.
Own venture. Billion-dollar success
Despite Enron's bankruptcy, all of his employers knew full well that John had closed the year with a billion-dollar profit. That's why he was inundated with invitations to various funds. Instead, John Arnold created his own fund, which essentially focused on the same sector as Enron. Having poached the company's top traders, he created the hedge fund Centaur Energy. Because the fund employed aggressive tactics, the company closed the year with an average gain of 200 percent.
In 2006, a fateful incident occurred: John, the industry leader, had been short gas since the summer, while his main competitor, Amaranth, was buying up the asset. John emerged victorious from the standoff between the two giants, earning his company over 300 percent, while market leader Amaranth lost $6 billion and went bankrupt.
Having purchased a couple of gas storage facilities in Louisiana and Colorado, John closed his foundation and became actively involved in philanthropy. John Arnold's net worth is estimated at $3 billion.
