How much those top traders can earn for a living, and with an excellent tracking record, is it possible to get into big institution as hedge funds without much eductional background?
There is no "5% successful (prop) traders". Trading success is a continuum. Most of those 5% who do not lose are breakeven or small winners. Only a small fragment make enough to trade at home. And very few make a killing.
A number of my old clients have made 100's of millions of $$ personally though I was very lucky with my client list which only really included top traders at top Hedgefunds. A mate of mine has a client who just signed a 300mill retainer. Not bad for a bloke who when I was broking was jobing 200 lots of Eurodollars!!!!
equities or futures? For those who have worked in trading rooms with 100 or 200 people, what percentage earn a much higher amount?
There really is nothing written in stone regarding this. If you're successful it's a matter of risk tolerance, how hard you want to push it, how hard you want to work, current market movements/opportunities and how much liquidity the markets you trade can offer. Markets change over time, they're not static. What made you large amounts a while back might deteriorate and you have got to work out new strategies etc. Just because someone else somewhere made 1m in a day has absolutely zero relevance to me or anyone really.
You won't get into any big hedge fund as a trader without an extensive educational background, I can gaurantee that. The old club where guys made millions on hard work and no high school diploma died with the floor. Like it or not most of the hedge fund traders now have graduate and doctorate work under their belts or were fairly brilliant in school.
As for money I've seen some traders make several million daytrading day in day out and some make hundred of millions overnight. I've seen some lose the same. There's no average in this business.