Gary Walter Stevenson (born 1986) is a British YouTuber, author, and former financial trader known for his economic commentary and activism against economic inequality. Born in Ilford, London, Stevenson studied economics and mathematics at the London School of Economics, before becoming a financial trader at Citibank in 2008 at age 21. Stevenson became a millionaire at Citibank, where he claims to have been the most profitable trader globally in 2011. This has been disputed by former colleagues. In 2014, Stevenson retired from financial trading to study for an MPhil in economics at the University of Oxford. In 2020, he started the YouTube-channel GarysEconomics, where he campaigns against economic inequality and explains economic concepts to a wider audience. Stevenson is a contributor to policy debates on inequality in Britain, including The Guardian, BBC, LBC, Novara Media, and Piers Morgan Uncensored. In 2024, Penguin Books published The Trading Game, Stevenson's memoir about his years working in the finance industry.
Early life and education Stevenson was born to Mormon parents, and grew up in a low-income household in Ilford, London. His English father was a post office worker in Ilford and his mother is of Italian heritage. He was the middle child of three siblings. As a child, Stevenson worked as a paperboy, and attended Ilford County High School until 2003 when he was expelled at age 16 due to a "drug-related transgression". He then completed his A-Levels at Valentines High School, where he achieved four A grades. As a teenager, he spent a brief time as a grime MC. He worked for DFS, earning £40 a day. His academic achievement earned him a scholarship to the London School of Economics (LSE), where he enrolled in 2005 to study mathematics and economics. Here he completed a BSc degree in economics in 2008. In 2017, he began postgraduate study at Keble College, Oxford, earning an MPhil in economics from the University of Oxford in 2019. He later wrote in his memoir that his university experience led him to conclude that "a lot of rich people expect poor people to be stupid".
Career
Interest rate trader Stevenson began his career as an interest rate trader in 2008 at age 21 after winning a card game based on trading, initially being hired by Citibank as an intern and then as a full employee. He took advantage of the 2008 financial crisis, receiving his first bonus in early 2009 of £13,000, and earned just under £400,000 in his first year, followed by his first million pounds by 2010. He also bet on the Greek government-debt crisis in 2011. Stevenson has since said that he became "Citibank's most profitable trader, in the whole world" in 2011 with a peak $35 million profit achieved for the bank that year. Stevenson states that he generated this profit by trading based on the prediction that interest rates would not rise due to the impact of wealth inequality upon demand. He believed the wealthy tended to save their money rather than spend it, instead investing it in property. However, his "most profitable trader" claim was disputed by eight of his former Citibank colleagues in a 2024 Financial Times article. Former colleagues stated that Stevenson could not have known his global ranking because Citibank did not maintain an official record of trader profitability. Stevenson has responded to the article by stating that "I stand by what I've said in the book, I have nothing further to add." After becoming disillusioned with his life at the time, Stevenson was moved by Citibank to a job in Tokyo. While there he has said he attempted to leave Citibank through a "charity clause" in which he would work for a charitable organisation for a year, but was denied this. One of his colleagues has stated that the "charity clause" was "essentially gone" by the time Stevenson tried to use it. Stevenson then states that he was signed off work for six months by a doctor, which was followed by work in an administrative job at the bank for a year, before he was allowed to leave the bank with his deferred stock of around £1.5 million to £2 million. Stevenson retired from trading in 2014 when he was 27, after burning out.
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