What does penny trader Timothy Sykes have in common with Ben Affleck? He relates to the actor — or his roles, at least. Sykes changed up Affleck's “Boiler Room” speech to help promote his training company. Most people remember Affleck's speech as being a little edgy, peppered with profanity that draws blood, and offering the raw truth that money can indeed buy happiness.
Sykes isn't shy about sharing what his penny trading income has gotten him. During his speech, he mentions that he drives a Lamborghini, has a seven-bedroom mansion on Miami Beach, and is a world traveler with an endless supply of beautiful women at his side. He has toys galore, but is adamant that he's a trader — not an investor.
Why is this distinction important? It means he's liquid and only deals with cash.
The Sykes promise
After years of success as a penny trader, Sykes is ready to earn his income in different ways, starting with teaching others the secrets of his success. He's only thirty-one years old — living proof that even young traders can have what it takes to succeed. He claims a 70 percent winning percentage and promises that his students will be making money within 12 months. Sykes's pull-no-punches approach appeals to a younger generation; he might be in a position to train the next big trader.
Sykes began his climb to wealth in high school, when he took just over $12,000 in bar mitzvah money and turned it into $1.65 million before he turned 21. He graduated from Tulane University, but admits to skipping classes to cash in on his trades. During his senior year, he established a hedge fund just in time to earn his bachelor's in philosophy and minor in business.
History repeats itself
Also like Affleck, Sykes has a soft place in his heart for his humble beginnings. In 2008, well after finishing college, he decided to go back to his initial investment and took $12,415 to go after Transparent Investment Management. In two years, he'd turned that investment into more than $90,000. It wasn't as successful as his first investment, but it did earn him the top spot on Convestor.
Sykes has recently been branching out into other industries. He's already published a book, An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund, which appeared in 2007. He's also founded a beauty pageant called “Miss Penny Stock” in an effort to find a brand model and representative for his company.
Clearly, his love of beautiful women is extending into his business, too, and the naysayers can believe whatever they like; Sykes has proven time and again that he knows what it takes to be successful.
How Sykes keeps busy
Like any successful entrepreneur, Sykes prefers to stay active. He's a writer for AOL Finance and TheStreet.com, and has been featured on various networks. However, his upcoming educational training system will be his biggest endeavor yet. As an activist and teacher, he serves more than 2,000 students around the world. His students are based in 60 different countries and are committed to learning everything they can from him.
Does Sykes see other resemblances between himself and Ben Affleck? He doesn't overtly compare himself to the star, but it's simple enough to see the similarities between the two highly successful men. Neither was born into fame and both experienced great success at a relatively young age.
It's clear that Sykes is happy to derive inspiration, motivation, and lessons from anyone he deems worthy, and mimicking the respected actor is a natural choice for Sykes.
Add comment