The Man Who Made a Billion Dollars in a Day

On 16 September 1992, the British government spent billions defending the pound — and lost. On the other side of the trade was a hedge fund in New York, with a position reportedly worth around $10 billion. This is the story of Black Wednesday: how Britain's promise to keep the pound inside the European Exchange Rate Mechanism became a bet the market could see through, how George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller made more than a billion dollars in about a day, and the strange twist of what happened to Britain's economy afterwards. Was Soros a villain, or the only person in the room being honest about the maths? Tell me in the comments. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 The Bet 0:54 The Promise 2:19 The Man Who Noticed 3:26 The Crack 4:29 The Bet 5:35 Black Wednesday 6:48 Who Won? 7:53 The Man, After 📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING HM Treasury, papers on the costs of Black Wednesday (released 2005) Bank of England, history of the ERM and inflation targeting Sebastian Mallaby, "More Money Than God" (2010) Contemporary reporting: Financial Times, The Times, BBC archive (Sept 1992) This video is for educational and historical purposes only and is not financial advice. Illustrations are artistic reconstructions, not photographs. 🔔 Subscribe for more stories about the people and moments that shaped money. #BlackWednesday #GeorgeSoros #FinanceHistory #Economics #BankOfEngland