Bill Lipschutz One of the best traders in America Country: USA

Biography of Bill Lipschutz

Bill Lipschutz, one of America's top traders, was born in 1956 in Farmingdale, New York. He attended the local school where he discovered his love for mathematics. Lipschutz developed a passion for tennis during his college years and continues to enjoy the sport to this day.

After completing high school, Lipschutz enrolled in Cornell University to study architecture. While pursuing his architectural degree, he also took courses in economics and obtained a Master of Business Administration. Despite his academic achievements, Lipschutz did not pursue a career in architecture.

A tragic event led Lipschutz to the stock market. When he was studying architecture at Cornell University, his grandmother passed away and left him a portfolio of various stocks worth $12,000. Lipschutz liquidated the portfolio, which consisted of incomplete lots, and this provided him with some risk capital. He started spending more and more time trading stocks and became increasingly interested in the financial markets.

In 1981, shortly after completing his studies, Lipschutz joined Salomon Brothers, where he had previously worked as a student. He went through Salomon's training program and had the opportunity to meet influential people in the industry. However, instead of focusing on stocks, Lipschutz decided to pursue currency trading. A senior executive advised him against returning to stocks, telling him, "You think too big. You don't need to go back to stocks." As a result, Lipschutz moved to the newly formed Foreign Exchange division.

Lipschutz admits that at the time, he knew nothing about currencies. He jokingly says, "I didn't even know what a German mark was." From 1984 to 1990, Lipschutz led the Foreign Exchange Operations division at Salomon Brothers. In 1988, he simultaneously became the head of the Global Foreign Exchange Options Group and the New York Foreign Exchange Trading Desk.

In 1990, despite his successful career, Lipschutz left Salomon Brothers to take a break. However, this break was short-lived. In the same year, he returned to the market as the President and CEO of North Tower Group, a subsidiary of Merrill Lynch Corporation.

In 1991, Lipschutz founded his own company, Rowayton Capital Management, where he served as the CEO. In 1995, along with a friend, he co-founded the hedge fund Hathersage with a capital of $200 million. To this day, Lipschutz controls a significant portion of the fund, which has only 14 investors, and manages this powerful structure in the currency and equity markets.

In 2006, Bill Lipschutz was inducted into the Trader Monthly Hall of Fame.