Have you ever heard of Takashi Kotegawa? Probably not — but this Japanese guy is an absolute legend in day trading, and his story is just wild. I mean, from $13,600 to over $150 million? That’s not just luck, but pure trading mastery.

What makes Takashi Kotegawa so fascinating isn’t just the money he made, but how mysterious he has remained. The guy hardly gives interviews, and there are hardly any photos of him online. Some even speculate whether he really exists — but the results speak for themselves. Starting in 2001, he began trading with real money on the Japanese stock market, right when the dot-com bubble burst. It was actually perfect timing.

Kotegawa’s strategy was relatively simple but effective. He looked for stocks that had fallen at least 20% below their 25-day moving average, used RSI and Bollinger Bands for confirmation, and then jumped in at trend reversals. He often closed the same day, sometimes holding smaller positions overnight. In a bear market, that works damn well — and that was his advantage.

But the madness came in 2005. Takashi Kotegawa watched a trader at Mizuho Securities make a massive mistake — he sold 610,000 J-Com shares at 1 Yen instead of selling 1 share for 610,000 Yen. The stock price crashed. Kotegawa bought 7,100 shares at the bottom and made $17 million in a single day. One day! After that, it was clear: Takashi Kotegawa was not just good, he was legendary.

What impresses me even more: The guy has remained down-to-earth after all that wealth. No show-off, no expensive cars or watches. His only big investment was a new apartment because his bedroom had become too small. That says everything about his character. Takashi Kotegawa trades out of passion, not greed — and that’s what makes him a true role model. Over 20 years later, his trades are still textbook examples of effective day trading.