On 15 September 1992, George Soros’ Quantum Fund initiated a monumental sale of pound sterling, triggering a financial domino effect that culminated the following day with Britain’s forced exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Soros, anticipating that the British pound was overvalued within the ERM and would inevitably be devalued, shorted billions of pounds.
The Bank of England's desperate attempts to defend the currency by raising interest rates and buying up sterling proved futile.
The pound's collapse the next day, known as Black Wednesday, earned Soros the moniker "the man who broke the Bank of England" and netted his fund over £1 billion in profit.
