Quote from monty21:
There is no one greatest trader. Whereas there is one greatest investor, Warren Buffett.
Especially with no measuring stick or formula, this entire discussion is arbitrary. What is a definition of the greatest trader? Without one, there's no point of making a list.
Just because someone traded from zero or had money to play with doesn't mean too much. I'm more impressed with Kyle Bass (shorted sub-prime mortgages) turning 300 million into 3 billion than someone taking 50,000 to a million. Smaller accounts allow more flexible moves in positions and gives the ability to take greater risks.
My view is that there are many great traders, but with continually changing markets, there are new great traders whose strategy works better in the present market conditions. It's very difficult to consistently adopt to markets and that is why most guys will lose a lot of their earlier profits eventually.
It's like comparing athletes from different generations. Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 pts in a single game. But I think Michael Jordan is a superior player though considering he played in a much more athletic and talented league.
Jesse Livermore made fortunates because he frequently cornered the market. Prior to the great depression, it was legal to manipulate stocks and futures. Today, hedge fund guys play the same game of poker but within new laws and regulations.