Richard Dennis: The Master

Richard Dennis is a legendary commodity trader who rose to fame in the Chicago markets during the 1970s and 1980s. Starting with a small amount of borrowed money, his unique trading strategies made him a millionaire by the age of 25.

Dennis is most famous for the “Turtle Trading experiment,” which he conducted in 1983 with his partner, William Eckhardt. The experiment was designed to settle a debate about whether great traders were born or could be made. Dennis believed that successful trading could be taught to anyone.

To prove his point, he recruited and trained a group of novices, whom he called the “Turtles.” He gave them a specific set of trend-following rules and had them trade using his own capital. The experiment was a remarkable success, with the Turtles reportedly earning over $175 million in just five years. This proved Dennis’s theory that with a simple set of rules, anyone could learn to be a successful trader.

Beyond his trading fame, Dennis was also known as a philanthropist and political activist.