Rogers became a very wealthy man during his days at the Quantum Fund, a hedge fund he co-founded with George Soros in 1973. The fund produced compounded average annual returns of more than 50 percent during the decade. He retired seven years later at age 37, chronicled his two around-the-world treks (one by motorcycle; the other by car)—and his philosophical musings gleaned from those journeys—in a couple of books, and has remained an active investor and author. In short, Rogers is a colorful character who’s much in demand in media circles.
He also has a proclivity for making doomsday financial predictions, including “crash” predictions each year going back at least as far as 2011, according to one publication. Three months ago, he reiterated his debt-driven financial disaster prediction, and added a twist by saying the looming trade war will make it worse. At that time, he said both U.S. and European stocks were trading near historic highs, and that he saw better opportunities in Russia, China, Japan or Vietnam.
Rogers is currently out of the country and unavailable for comment. But in a press release announcing the BIKR fund, he commented that the internet and AI have changed the way finance and investing are done, and that the BIKR fund reflects that trend.
“I hope we get it right,” he said in the statement. “We will all be extremely pleased someday if we do.”