They are history’s geniuses. But were they any good at investing? | The Story of Money Podcast
58 claims analyzed
Claims58
Sir Isaac Newton's gilt portfolio in 1720 was worth around £600 million in present-day terms.
There was no concept of insider trading before the 1980s.
Sir Isaac Newton's South Sea Company shares in 1720 were worth around £300 million in present-day terms.
Winston Churchill's £750 per-article rate in the 1920s is equivalent to about £43,000 using CPI linkage.
Charles Darwin achieved annualized real capital growth of 8.6% over 42 years.
Winston Churchill received an advance worth close to £80 million in GDP-adjusted terms.
Sir Isaac Newton died with a fortune equivalent to about £1 billion in present-day money.
Winston Churchill's £750 per-article rate in the 1920s is equivalent to about £480,000 using GDP linkage.
Winston Churchill's £750 per-article rate in the 1920s is equivalent to about £200,000 using wage linkage.
Winston Churchill's per-article rate in the 1920s was about £750.
Winston Churchill's book advances were worth close to £80 million in GDP-adjusted terms.
Winston Churchill took a four-month book tour in the United States.
Winston Churchill criticized the United Kingdom as timid compared with the United States during his book tour.
The Zurich apartment block bought by Albert Einstein's ex-wife with his Nobel Prize money is now an Einstein museum.
Marie Curie gave all of her money away to advance scientific research.
Winston Churchill's $620,000 of stock trading in the nine trading days ending October 18, 1929 was equivalent to about £80 million after exchange-rate conversion and UK GDP adjustment.
Sir Isaac Newton lost about 40% of his fortune within a year of buying back into South Sea Company stock.
Winston Churchill received an advance worth more than £7 million in inflation-adjusted terms.
Sir Isaac Newton invented calculus.
Sir Isaac Newton sold his South Sea Company shares in April and May 1720.
Sir Isaac Newton liquidated all of his gilts to buy South Sea Company stock near the peak of the South Sea Bubble.
Winston Churchill bought speculative stocks during a four-month book tour in the United States.
Winston Churchill began trading stocks on margin during his book tour in the United States.
Andrew Ross Sorkin's book 1929 discusses Winston Churchill's margin trading.
Charles Darwin shifted his investment portfolio into UK government bonds in the mid-1860s.
In 1829, the British government issued a debt swap involving new dated bonds.
John Maynard Keynes's investments as bursar of King's College, Cambridge outperformed UK stocks by 5.2 percentage points per year.
During John Maynard Keynes's first years as bursar of King's College, Cambridge, his average investment holding period was less than six months.
Passive investing did not exist during John Maynard Keynes's lifetime.
The South Sea Company was given a trade monopoly with South America.
By 1720 Sir Isaac Newton had amassed around 10,000 South Sea Company shares.
Sir Isaac Newton earned a return of more than 100% on the final portion of his South Sea Company investment.
Sir Isaac Newton bought back into South Sea Company stock a couple of months after selling his shares in 1720.
Winston Churchill lost his book advance trading stocks on margin.
The 1873 financial crisis wiped out many railway bonds.
J.M.W. Turner engaged in fixed-income arbitrage in the early 19th century.
John Maynard Keynes shifted King's College, Cambridge's endowment out of gilts and into stocks.
In the early 19th century, almost all British government debt was perpetual debt.
Albert Einstein gave most of his 1921 Nobel Prize money to his ex-wife as part of a divorce settlement.
In the nine trading days ending October 18, 1929, Winston Churchill traded $620,000 worth of stock.
Sir Isaac Newton served as Master of the Mint in England in the early 18th century.
Sir Isaac Newton tried to become provost of King's College Cambridge.
Winston Churchill's book advances were worth more than £1 million in CPI-adjusted terms.
Winston Churchill lost the full advance by the time he returned from his book tour.
A long annuity bond was deliverable into the 1829 British debt exchange.
Delivering a long annuity bond into the 1829 British debt exchange generated about 340 basis points of arbitrage profit.
John Maynard Keynes was bursar of King's College, Cambridge.
John Maynard Keynes suffered major investment losses in the 1920s.
John Maynard Keynes reduced King's College, Cambridge's real-estate holdings while bursar.
During the latter part of John Maynard Keynes's tenure as bursar of King's College, Cambridge, his average investment holding period exceeded seven years.
Albert Einstein's ex-wife used his 1921 Nobel Prize money to buy a five-story apartment block in Zurich.
Sir Isaac Newton formulated the laws of motion.
Sir Isaac Newton was turned down for the provostship of King's College Cambridge.
The South Sea Company was founded in 1711.
David Lough wrote a book about Winston Churchill's financial affairs.
British government debt was around 200% of GDP in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars.
John Maynard Keynes managed the endowment of King's College, Cambridge.
The word economics comes from the Greek word oikonomia.