there is a rather large trader on there who remains rather silent and non assuming. He has the same name as a famous boxer. there are also several money managers on there, that I see, especially from other countries. To say they're involved in trading would be correct, as well. Plenty of people on there in the markets.
This list is only public figures. Who know how many billiionaires out there who hide their money from the government. Like the Bush family, I am sure they are worth billions, but they are not on the list.
takenoprisoners says... Marc Rich was a COMMODITIES trader but a real one. Making DEALS with countries for commodities you never heard of. I believe he had a great deal to do with starting the Crude Oil trading and eventuall ran afoul of the FEDS by trading WITH Iran against US foreign policy. He dealt in tankers full of Crude NOT contracts on Nymex. Sorry to disagree but I had a good friend who was a quant that worked for Rich back when Rich ran RICHCO. Even saw their offices on 5th Ave that they were renting from the Shaw of Iran. They were being indicted for tax evasion and the gov't was levying $60K a day fines to force their compliance. These fines were ignored for months until late one night when Rich and his sidekick Pinky Green jumped ship and fled to Switzerland. The joke of it was that the tax evasion amounts were supposedly peanuts compared to their capitalization. Also heard that the biggest hardship for Pinky was that he missed his daily authentic NY Jewish deli sandwiches.
WOOO GO JIMMY!!! (now if I could get a bump in my bonus) (j/k!) http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/UBGJ.html
Kensho you are wrong "There are few rags to riches stories out there, but they are interesting - like the single mom on welfare that authored the Harry Potter books." there are TONS of rags to riches stories out there, and even a study of the top 500 wealthiest in the US every year, show amazing examples of wealth built from poverty. The USA has (every year) among the top 5% income quintile mobility in the world. Sure, it is easier to make a million, when you start out with 999,000 but otoh, those who start out poorer also start out hungrier. The stats don't lie. There are millions of rags to riches stories in our nation's history, and with income quintile mobility what it is , nobody can deny that. Daytrading is hardly the most popular way to go from rags to riches, but it certainly can be done. I am not aware of any industry that requires a smaller capital investment to start than daytrading, with the potential for amazing wealth. Most traders lose money. That's fine and dandy. Most businesses do as well. Wealth, generally speaking, is created by people who are willing to take (calculated) risks, work very long hours, pounce on opportunity in the heartbeat it presents itself, and most of all - not make excuses from their failures - but to learn from them.