Fossett, 63, a former commodities trader who was the first to circle the globe solo in a balloon, was last heard from September 3 after taking off from a private airstrip about 80 miles southeast of Reno. Authorities believe he was carrying only one bottle of water. ++++ There is a man who took money away from the market and never gave it back.
Fossett then became a successful commodities broker in Chicago on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange,[5] trading stocks, bonds and soybean futures.[9] After 15 years,[3] he founded his own firms, Marathon Securities and Lakota Trading, from which he made millions on the stock market and which he would later use to finance his adventures.[1][10][7] He founded Lakota Trading in 1980.[11] As of 1997, it was the largest company matching buyers and sellers on the floor of the Chicago exchange.[5] Lakota Trading worked with many exchanges in the United States and also in London.[3] Fossett said, "As a floor trader, I was very aggressive and worked hard. Those same traits help me in adventure sports."[5] Fossett did not participate in any of the "interesting things" he had done in college during his time as a floor trader: "There was a period of time where I wasn't doing anything except working for a living. I became very frustrated with that and finally made up my mind to start getting back into things."[3] He began to take six weeks a year off to spend time on sports and eventually moved to Beaver Creek, Colorado in 1990, where for a time he ran his business from a distance.[3] Fossett later sold most of his business interests,[1][12] although as of 2006, he still spent half the year in Chicago running Lakota Trading.[3]
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