Table of Contents
In pretty much every industry in this world, there are bound to be winners and losers. However, the Forex market has this small gap between success and failure. This is the buffer zone as I like to call it. A zone where pretty much 90% of modern traders reside. It’s right between becoming incredibly rich with your trades or losing everything you own. I know it sounds bleak but it is what it is. It is also why those who stand out as traders, such as during IQ Option trading competitions or by being rich are important.
While residing in this buffer zone, we usually disregard looking down and seeing all of the people that have faced terrible failures and are now not even able to make simple trades. No, we refuse to learn from their mistakes, we prefer to look up top and listen to the advice we receive from some of the best Forex traders in the world. Look at them, aren’t they marvelous? These top traders are the ones every single one of us aspires to be. Immensely successful, filthy rich and with quite a lot of influence. Of course, you want to be one of them, when you get to know who they are and start looking for the best Forex brokers to register with.
It must be hard to even comprehend how these people were able to reach such heights, but in all honesty, it’s very easy to learn from them as they have documented pretty much all of their lives. If you are a beginner in Forex trading, listening to these peoples’ advice will surely give you at least some kind of value. But who are these richest forex traders? Are they some mysterious beings out of this world? No, they’re just ordinary people like you and me. So without further ado, let’s get to know the stories of the successful Forex trader stories in South Africa, and the world in general, shall we?
Now I need to warn you before we start discussing Sandile. He is, by far, not one of the top traders in the world. However, he does deserve a spot on this list as he is considered to be one of the best Forex traders in South Africa. Besides, he is so young and managed to achieve so much, he needs to be mentioned in this article.
Sandile Shezi is quite the odd one out when compared to other traders in the Forex industry. His story is quite similar to the ones we will list below. The man had very humble beginnings in South Africa but was able to outmatch some of the most prominent adult traders in the world right now. I know he is better than me and most of the traders I know personally. But the amount of risk this young man took in order to get to where he is right now is astonishing. Had one tiny detail gone wrong, he would most likely have to face poverty for the rest of his life. But due to his success and a bit of luck, he has become an inspiration to many young Forex traders in South Africa.
You see Sandile Shezi grew up in a ghetto. He lived in a very unwelcoming and poor neighborhood, during a time when employment was not an easy thing for a South African. He was attending a local school, which required a tuition fee to be paid every once in a while and Sandile used to pay it himself. Well, by himself I mean he was given the money and then he made the payment. But one day, when he was given the tuition money for a year, he took it and invested it all into the Forex market. When I first heard about this, I cringed to my core as I imagined myself in his position. The amount of stress that comes with it is really hard to deal with, even for a 26-year-old.
However, everything worked out for Sandile and he was able to make a fortune and become one of the most successful Forex traders in South Africa. But, he has admitted that with the knowledge he has now, he wouldn’t make such a risk. So listen closely if you are in school. Don’t do what he did, it’s extremely risky. Most of Sandile’s expertise in the Foreign Exchange market came after he made his fortune. Today, Sandile Shezi net worth is estimated to be around $2.3 million. He created a school for Forex trading, which he calls the Global Forex Institute. He himself is a teacher in the Institute and teaches young entrepreneurs how to get behind Forex and earn a living from it. He was actually mentored by one of the top Forex traders in South Africa, George van der Riet, whom we will discuss next.
George van der Riet was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Despite the fact that life in the city was quite pleasant for him, he still moved to the UK to start his education. After years of studying finance in Manchester, he became a Forex trader in one of the largest UK finance firms. This not only developed his skills in finance further but also motivated him to set a new goal for himself, an entrepreneurial goal. After many years of working for a company, he decided that it was time to strike out on his own and started conducting trades for himself. Soon enough the man was known as one of the richest Forex traders in South Africa. After all the success, George decided that it was time to return home, where he was received with open arms. Although there were more than enough job offers to go around in Cape Town, George, with his now impressive entrepreneurial skills, decided to strike out on his own once again. In 2010 when he came back and started Forex trading South Africa, he met Sandile Shezi, with whom he then made the Global Forex Institute with the aim of developing the industry further in his home country. Today, George van der riet net worth is estimated to be around $20 million.
You may think that the list of successful Forex traders in South Africa is rather small and that they would not have too much competition between themselves, but you would be terribly wrong. Ref Wayne has a very similar story as Sandile Shezi. He was able to become one of the most successful Forex traders in South Africa at the age of 22 when he finally announced his status as a multimillionaire.
He is believed to be one of the smartest Forex traders in South Africa, which in fact helped him to develop his own Forex institute, naming it the African Forex Institute, not to be confused with Sandile and George’s Global Forex Institute. Wayne has also released a lot of free Forex trading strategies for his followers, which was quickly gobbled up by the ambitious South Africa Forex traders. Besides these successes, Ref is considered to be the creator of the first African cryptocurrency, which he named Pip coin. Today, Ref Wayne net worth is estimated to be around $500 million, solidifying his position as one of the richest Forex traders in South Africa.
Forex trading in South Africa is on the rise and many brokerages are offering their services to prospective traders. We have compiled a list of the Forex brokers in South Africa, which were highly recommended by the aforementioned traders and more. This should help you find the broker best suited for you if you are looking for a new brokerage platform.
AvaTrade
Starting Capital
$100
Financial License
CBI, BVI FSC, ASIC, FSCA, FSA, ADGM, CySEC
Promotion
Financial Leverage
1:400
Established
2006
Trading Software
MT4, MT5, WebTrader, AvaTrade Go
XM
Starting Capital
$5
Financial License
CySEC, FCA, ASIC
Promotion
$30, 50%+20%
Financial Leverage
1:888
Established
2009
Trading Software
MT4, MT5, WebTrader
Plus500
Starting Capital
ZAR 1,500
Financial License
FCA, CySEC, FMA, FSCA, ASIC
Promotion
12-25%
Financial Leverage
1:300
Established
2008
Trading Software
MT4
CM Trading
Starting Capital
$250
Financial License
FSB
Promotion
Financial Leverage
1:200
Established
2012
Trading Software
MT4, SIRIX
Exness
Starting Capital
10 USD
Financial License
FSA
Promotion
N/A
Financial Leverage
1:2000
Established
2008
Trading Software
MT4, MT5
IQ Option
Starting Capital
$10
Financial License
CySEC
Promotion
Not available
Financial Leverage
1:30
Established
2013
Trading Software
WebTrader
RoboForex
Starting Capital
€/$ 10
Financial License
FCS Belize
Promotion
30 USD
Financial Leverage
1:2000
Established
2009
Trading Software
MT4, MT5
EagleFX
Starting Capital
$10
Financial License
N/A
Promotion
N/A
Financial Leverage
1:500
Established
2019
Trading Software
MT4
AMarkets
Starting Capital
$/€ 100
Financial License
FSA
Promotion
25%
Financial Leverage
1:1000
Established
2007
Trading Software
MT4
OspreyFX
Starting Capital
$10
Financial License
N/A
Promotion
N/A
Financial Leverage
1:500
Established
2019
Trading Software
MT4
HotForex
Starting Capital
5 USD
Financial License
FCA, FSA, DFSA, FSCA
Promotion
100%
Financial Leverage
1:1000
Established
2010
Trading Software
MT4, MT5, WebTrader
ForexMart
Starting Capital
15 USD
Financial License
CySEC
Promotion
30%
Financial Leverage
1:500
Established
2015
Trading Software
MT4, WebTrader
Tickmill
Starting Capital
100 USD
Financial License
FSA, FCA, CySEC, FSCA
Promotion
30% Welcome Bonus
Financial Leverage
1:500
Established
2014
Trading Software
MT4, WebTrader
FXOpen
Starting Capital
1 USD
Financial License
ASIC, FCA
Promotion
Forex Cashback
Financial Leverage
1:500
Established
2005
Trading Software
MT4, MT5, WebTrader, TickTrader
Kovner had humble beginnings. Because of this, he may be regarded as a man we can easily relate to. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and had nothing to do with being a top Forex trader in the world or even in the US until his thirties. Bruce led most of his life like any of us would do, chasing success, trying various things and hoping it would work out. However, Bruce managed to make a very successful investment when he was 32 years old. He had about $3,000 on his credit card and decided to invest that in some Soybean futures. Can you imagine? Just soybeans and the man was able to make about $23,000 with that. The profit was amazing but he could have made more if he was more attentive and pulled out of the trade a bit earlier. That would have landed him with a $40,000 profit instead of $23,000. After making his first gains, Bruce had an enlightening moment of sorts, which led him to learn about the proper appropriation of risk in investments. Thanks to his newfound skill he was able to reach the successful position he is at right now. Thanks to this one lesson, he was able to cement his position as one of the most successful Forex traders in the world.
After the successful trade, Bruce started working in a Commodities Corporation, gathering more knowledge. After a few years of working there, he left to create his own company, called Caxton Corporation. Later he added Caxton Associates his list of companies and concentrated most of his efforts on working with Foreign Exchange. The company became immensely successful. The most they have made was about $14 billion in a year.
Urs is pretty under-appreciated in the Forex community. He actually deserves to be in much higher regard than he currently is right now. At some point, he was just an inch away from becoming the most successful Forex trader in the world. He was able to achieve most of his success on his own, just by working with his abilities and knowledge.
You might think that Urs is German. However, it may come as a surprise when I tell you that he was born and raised in Switzerland and worked at the Swiss Bank Corporation. Because of his immense skill with currencies, he was employed in the bank’s Foreign affairs division and later transferred to the foreign exchange market division. This naturally, only increased his experience and expertise on the subject. The knowledge is what helped him become one of the best traders in the world.
After a lot of success at his job, he was going to be sent to London. Before leaving for Britain, his father, despite not having too much to his name, gave his son some money for his trip. About a hundred-thousand Swiss Francs, which is about ZAR 1.5 million by today’s rates, which was the gateway to him becoming arguably the best Forex trader in the world. Urs was able to invest it all in Forex and make his first million just at the age of 24. Before starting his company, Urs continued to trade on the market, making millions and millions privately. Nowadays Urs is refusing to trade with other people’s money, as he says that it gives him a false perception of the risk. By trading with his own money, he wouldn’t take the same risks that he would otherwise. But this doesn’t mean that “normal risks” for him are the same normal risks for us. The man is notorious for taking risks that even large companies wouldn’t dare to consider. He is able to do this while also maintaining the reputation of a very calm, collected and careful trader. Thanks to his skills, he is regarded as one of the best, if not the best Forex trader in the world. There could be a lot you could learn from him on your quest to become the best Forex trader in South Africa.
George SorosAt this point, I think I don’t even need to explain to you who George Soros is. If you and I are living in the same age, we already know who this man is, even without a Google search. But you may not know that George Soros is actually considered to be one of the most successful Forex traders in the world. But that doesn’t shield him from hundreds of conspiracy theories and scandals that are directed to him. After all, being the man who broke the Bank of England lands you some enemies. Enemies who will do everything in their power to bring you down and see you fail. But since we’re already here, let’s still discuss what his life was about, how he came to be this rich and influential, and most importantly, how he cam about to be known as The man who broke the Bank of England. George’s real name is Gyorgy Schwartz. However, his family name needed to be changed to ensure their safety, when George was but a child. You see, Soros grew up when Nazi Germany was still rampaging all over Europe and his father believed that it would have been best to change the name and appear to be foreign. Since George was so young when his name was changed, it stuck with him for the rest of his life, that’s why we call him George today and not Gyorgy. Later on, he and his family moved to Switzerland, somewhere in 1946, and then to London the following year. You might find this extremely weird, but George actually has a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, from the London School of Economics. However, thanks to the nature of his school he was still able to land a job in a local bank. This is where he was exposed to most of the experience he has today in Forex. Quite a similar story to the ones we’ve already listed. It seems to be a trend for all of the successful Forex traders, to have something to do with banks.
After his years of experience in the banking sector of the financial world, he decided to create his own company. The decision was swiftly followed by founding the Soros Fund Management company in 1969. The company concentrated on managing hedge funds, as the name implies, and has reportedly made more than $40 billion in revenue since it started operations. After this success, George founded the Quantum Fund in 1970 through which he engaged in Forex trading. George did something unthinkable for the time. He took about £10 billion and short sold them, which in turn managed to make him 1 Billion GBP in a single day, which is why he is on this Top Forex traders list. That is why he is called the man who broke the bank of England. Because of his actions, the bank of Englad had to actually withdraw pund from the European Foreign Exchange because it dropped way too low, all because of George’s actions. One single man affected a bank on a massive scale, and since then he was known as the man who broke the Bank of England.
Krieger had a childhood similar to ours. He didn’t really face too much hardship when growing up. After graduating from school, it was time for him to go to college. He and his family decided that the Wharton School of Business was a very good match for him. The school is part of the University of Pennsylvania. Thanks to the renowned name of the school, he was able to step on the path of becoming one of the most famous and successful Forex traders in the world. However, compared to everyone else on the list, Krieger was able to achieve his success in just a few years, a lot faster than his peers. Just like everybody else, Krieger has experience of working in a bank. Right after graduating he joined the Salomon Brothers and then quickly moved to the Bankers Trust company. Thanks to his performance in the Bankers Trust company, he was able to accumulate quite a large following as well as a great reputation of a savvy and smart businessman. After much success, the company couldn’t ignore Krieger and increased his standard $50 million trading capital to $700 million, which used to be unheard of. The things he did should be a lesson to all of the Forex traders in South Africa. The capital helped him make his fortune which he still enjoys to this day.
It all happened when the dreadful October 19th arrived. At the time there was complete mayhem on the markets. Not only were the stock markets down, but the Foreign exchange market was also suffering. At the time it was quite hard to find a way to actually benefit the company in any way. However, Krieger was very attentive. He quickly saw that the New Zealand Dollar was overvalued at that moment. Because of his immense capital and leverage of 400:1, he was able to start short selling the NZD. This strategy helped him make more than $300 million for the company. $300 million just from 1 employee, can you believe that? However, Krieger later left the Bankers Trust company because of the small bonus he received. After making so much money, you’d expect that the man would receive a nice chunk of it right? Well, no he actually got only 1%, $3 million. This was the reason why he left the company but brought along with him the title of one of the most successful Forex traders in the world.
Well, you’ve probably already noticed some kind of similarities between these giants of Forex trading. Let’s try to bring it more into perspective and understand the way these people thought when they were making their money.
Some may tell you that you don’t really need a degree in economics or finance to be able to trade successfully. And I support that claim, however, proper education is never something to say no to. The more you learn the more likely you are to start trading easily. You see it’s not only about the way you can make trades, but it’s also about the knowledge of how the prices can be affected by the economy. Thanks to this knowledge, we can see most of these top Forex traders in South Africa make their fortunes. I’m not saying that you should go for a degree that will immediately put you into debt, however. Find a university or school that can provide you education for at least a modest sum, or for free, there’s quite a lot of them around the world. Remember, in the world of Forex, it’s always best to know more than you need. This is why we always recommend working with brokers that provide ample education sources and rate them high in our reviews, since if a broker provides good education, then it can be considered to be one of the best brokers. You can check out of the top rated brokers on the button below, which also offers demo accounts for begginers in the field for free.
All of the people above have made some of the biggest risks in their lives when they made their fortunes. Every single one of them was risking something when investing, especially when they were depending on those funds. For example, Sandile would have lost his chance at an education and Urs would have gone dirt poor if he lost those investments. It’s important to understand that becoming a Top Forex trader in South Africa, and all over the world, comes with great risk. However, you don’t necessarily need to risk your livelihood to get ahead. Keep them on a manageable level, always have a backup plan and go at it without a second thought. Who knows, maybe you’ll soon be known as the one to break the Bank of South Africa.
