James Beeland Rogers Jr. (born October 19, 1942) is an American investor and financial commentator based in Singapore. He is the chairman of Beeland Interests, Inc. He was the co-founder of the

Quantum Fund The Quantum Group of Funds are privately owned hedge funds based in London, New York, Curaçao (Kingdom of the Netherlands) and Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territ ...

and

Soros Fund Management Soros Fund Management is a privately held American investment management firm. It is currently structured as a family office, but formerly was a hedge fund. The firm was founded in 1970 by George Soros and, in 2010, was reported to be one of th ...

. He was also the creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI). Rogers does not consider himself a member of any school of economic thought, but has acknowledged that his views best fit the label of the

Austrian School The Austrian school is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivat ...

of economics.

Early life

Rogers was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

and raised in

Demopolis, Alabama Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and Tombigbee ...

. In 1964, Rogers graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', in history from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He got his first job on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

, at Dominick & Dominick. In 1966, he acquired a second BA degree in philosophy, politics and economics from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, as a member of

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Business career

In 1964, Rogers joined Dominick & Dominick LLC on Wall Street, where he first learned about stocks and bonds. From 1966 to 1968, he was in the U.S. Army during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. In 1970, Rogers joined investment bank Arnhold and S. Bleichroder, where he worked with

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

. In 1973, Soros and Rogers both left and founded the

. From 1973 to 1980, the portfolio gained 4,200% while the S&P advanced about 47%. The Quantum Fund was one of the first truly global funds. In 1980, Rogers decided to "retire" and traveled on a motorcycle around the world. He has since been a guest professor of finance at the

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

. In 1989 and 1990, Rogers was the moderator of WCBS' ''The Dreyfus Roundtable'' and FNN's ''The Profit Motive with Jim Rogers''. From 1990 to 1992, he traveled through China again and around the world on motorcycle, covering over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) across six continents. His journey was listed in the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

''. He tells of his adventures and worldwide investments in the bestseller ''Investment Biker.'' In 1998, Rogers founded the

Rogers International Commodity Index The Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI) is a broad index of commodity futures designed by Jim Rogers in 1996/1997. The first fund tracking the index began on July 31, 1998. Overview The index was designed to meet the need for consistent ...

. In 2007, the index and its three sub-indices were linked to

exchange-traded note An exchange-traded note (ETN) is a senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt security issued by an underwriting bank or by a special-purpose entity. Similar to other debt securities, ETNs may have a maturity date and are backed by the credit of th ...

s under the banner ELEMENTS. The notes track the total return of the indices as an accessible way to invest in the index. Rogers is an outspoken advocate of agriculture investments. Between January 1, 1999, and January 5, 2002, Rogers went on another Guinness-recognized journey through 116 countries, covering 245,000 kilometers with his wife Paige Parker in a custom-made Mercedes. The trip began in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, which was about to celebrate the millennial anniversary of

Leif Eriksson Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According to the sagas of Ice ...

's first trip to America. On January 5, 2002, the couple returned to their New York home on Riverside Drive. He wrote ''Adventure Capitalist'' following this around-the-world adventure.

2002 to present

On his return in 2002, Rogers became a regular guest on

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

' ''Cavuto on Business'' and other financial TV shows. In 2005, he wrote ''Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market'', in which he quotes a ''

Financial Analysts Journal The ''Financial Analysts Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering investment management, published by Routledge on behalf of the CFA Institute. It was established in 1945 and , the editor-in-chief is William N. Goetzmann. ...

'' academic paper co-authored by

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...

professor

Geert Rouwenhorst K. Geert Rouwenhorst is a Dutch-American investor and professor of finance. He was hired at Yale University in 1990. In 2012, he was appointed the Robert B. and Candice J. Haas Professor at Yale School of Management and deputy director for Inter ...

, entitled ''Facts and Fantasies about Commodity Futures''. In December 2007, Rogers sold his mansion in New York City for about $16 million and moved to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. He said he moved because it was a groundbreaking time for investment potential in Asian markets. His daughters speak fluent Mandarin to prepare them for the future. He said, "If you were smart in 1807, you moved to London, if you were smart in 1907, you moved to New York City, and if you are smart in 2007, you move to Asia." In a CNBC interview with

Maria Bartiromo Maria Sara Bartiromo (born September 11, 1967) is an American conservative journalist and author who has also worked as a financial reporter and news anchor. She is the host of ''Mornings with Maria'' and ''Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street'' on t ...

broadcast on May 5, 2008, Rogers said that people in China are extremely motivated and driven, and that he wants to be in that type of environment so his daughters are motivated and driven. He added that this is how America and Europe used to be. He chose not to move to Chinese cities like Hong Kong or Shanghai due to high pollution potentially causing health problems for his family. However, he remains skeptical of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

's future, saying in 2001, "India as we know it will not survive another 30 or 40 years". In 2015, he exited the India market, saying, "One cannot invest based on hope". In 2008, Rogers endorsed

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

, a Republican congressman, for president of the United States.

Personal life

Rogers has been married three times. In 1966, he married his first wife, Lois Biener; they divorced in 1969. In 1974, he married Jennifer Skolnik; they divorced in 1977. He married Paige Parker in 2000;Meet The Legendary Investor Jim Rogers and His Family
''Family & Life Magazine''. Farhan Shah. October 2013 they have two daughters. In September 2012 Rogers was appointed by VTB Capital as an advisor to the agricultural division of its global private equity unit. He noted: "Russia and the CIS region have all the ingredients needed to become the world's agriculture powerhouse. It seems that everything may now be coming together under VTB Capital to make this happen, so I am keen to participate, if the fund gets off the ground." In February 2013 Rogers joined the board of advisors of the Coalition to Reduce Spending. In September 2015, he left the Indian market saying "one can't just invest on hope". In April 2019, Rogers received an honorary Ph.D. from

Pusan National University Pusan National University (PNU; , also called Busan National University) is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities in South Korea. It is the first national university established after the National Liberation Day of Korea. There ar ...

for his books containing positive messages on Korean reunification.

Financial advice

In 2002, Rogers said that Fed chairman

Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates L ...

's "reaction to the stock-market bubble has caused two more bubbles to grow: a real-estate bubble and a consumer-debt bubble." In 2006, Rogers said he was shorting US financials, home builders, and

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New ...

. On November 4, 2010, speaking at Balliol College, Oxford, Rogers urged students to scrap career plans for Wall Street or the city, London's financial district, and to study agriculture and mining instead. "The power is shifting again from the financial centers to the producers of real goods. The place to be is in commodities, raw materials, natural resources." He repeated this view in 2013 on '' The Bottom Line'' show on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, in a feature on "Futurology for Business". In May 2012 he remarked during an interview with ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine that "there's going to be a huge shift in American society, American culture, in the places where one is going to get rich. The stock brokers are going to be driving taxis. The smart ones will learn to drive tractors so they can work for the smart farmers. The farmers are going to be driving Lamborghinis. I'm telling you. You should start Forbes Farming." Rogers has been periodically bearish on the US stock market since the 1980s, notably in 1987, 1998, 1999 and 2008. In February 2018, he predicted that the next

bear market A market trend is a perceived tendency of the financial markets to move in a particular direction over time. Analysts classify these trends as ''secular'' for long time-frames, ''primary'' for medium time-frames, and ''secondary'' for short time ...

would be "the worst in our lifetime."

Bibliography

* 1994: ''Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers'' – * 2003: ''Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip'' – * 2004: ''Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market'' – * 2007: ''A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market'' – * 2009: ''A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons For Life And Investing'' – * 2013: ''Street Smarts: Adventures on the Road and in the Markets'' – * 2019: ''Number One Bestsellers in Japan: The Future of Japan'' * 2019: ''Number One Bestsellers in Japan: A Warning to Japan''

References

External links

The Millennium Adventure
official Jim Rogers website
Jim Rogers blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Jim 1942 births Living people Alabama Republicans Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford American business writers American commodities traders American economics writers American emigrants to Singapore American expatriates in Singapore American financial analysts American financial commentators American financial company founders American financiers American finance and investment writers American hedge fund managers American investors American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American money managers American stock traders Austrian School economists Businesspeople from Alabama Columbia Business School faculty Economists from Alabama George Soros Oxford University Boat Club rowers People from Demopolis, Alabama Stock and commodity market managers Writers from Alabama Yale University alumni United States Army soldiers 21st-century American economists