World’s best trader explains why he quit his $2m a year job

A British businessman has spoken about his sudden decision to quit financial trading, despite being the best in the world at it following a bet that won his company $35 million (£27.9 million).

Despite making millions, both personally and for global financial services company Citibank, Gary Stevenson turned his back on trading.

Making his first million at the age of just 24, Stevenson had joined Citibank in 2008 after graduating the London School of Economics (LSE) with a degree in economics and mathematics.

He made his first seven figure sum predicting the outcome of the 2011 Greek financial crisis before turning his attention to a similar situation in 2012.

It was a decision that earned Citybank a staggering $35m, with Stevenson successfully predicting how the global financial crisis would play out.

But he threw in the towel just two years later.

"I got called into a meeting with my boss. The thing is this, I hated that boss. I really hated him, but I had to laugh at his jokes for six months," Stevenson said on LADbible TV's latest episode of Minutes With.

"And then suddenly I get this bonus, and I don't have to laugh at the guy's jokes no more."

Gary Stevenson (LADbible TV)

"And I was just ripping the p**s out of this guy every day. And we start to argue a lot. And he called me into his office, and he was shouting at me, screaming at me.

"And then I just thought - 'What the f**k am I doing? What am I f**king doing?'. And I just looked up to my boss and said - 'I need to quit'.

"And my boss was like [shell shocked] - because at that time I was Citibank's top trader in the world. And then senior management went mental, and eventually they decided - 'Okay, don't quit. We're gonna move you to Tokyo'.

"And I thought at the time that was a bad idea, but I thought, I said to him - 'I don't think that's a good idea'. And he said to me - 'You don't understand, you have to go'.

Gary Stevenson quit financial trading out of the blue (LADbible TV)

"And I was like - 'Well, if you're gonna be a d**k about it, then I'll go and take another f**king bonus then'. Which I did.

"And I moved to Tokyo. And that begins the final fight, you could say, between me and Citibank, me leaving the bank. I went through a difficult couple of years leaving. It wasn't easy to leave.

"But it was nice that that happened in Tokyo. I basically had two years of, like, cycling around Tokyo, eating ramen in little, like, corner ramen bars, thinking about what it means to be walking away from a $2-million-a-year job.

"It was weird, you know, but I decided I wanted to do something about society collapsing."

Since quitting financial services, Stevenson has spent his days campaigning against financial inequality and the poorer man and woman suffering the most during economic downturns that aren't their fault.

"People don’t realise how rich the rich are, and that the rich don’t pay much tax," he said.