THE BOTTOM LINE

What makes a great investor?

A big dose of luck, and a distinctly odd character

Published Wed, Aug 26, 2026 · 05:01 PM
    • When perseverance does not work, an investor must be even odder to be great: They need to be able to change their mind.
    • When perseverance does not work, an investor must be even odder to be great: They need to be able to change their mind. PHOTO: PIXABAY

    ONE day in 1992, American investor Stanley Druckenmiller marched into his boss’ office, saying: “George, I’m going to sell US$5.5 billion worth of British pounds tonight and buy deutschemarks.”

    George was Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist George Soros and Druckenmiller, his protege, was running his Quantum hedge fund.

    The idea was that the Bank of England (BOE) was trying to sustain an unsustainable exchange-rate peg which speculative pressure could break, forcing the depreciation of the pound and netting Quantum a huge profit.