US Investing Championship 2026: Standings & Top Traders

The United States Investing Championship is the only place where trading claims meet verified, real-money accounts. Founded by Norm Zadeh, Ph.D., its alumni include Paul Tudor Jones, Mark Minervini, David Ryan, and Marty Schwartz. This year 660 entrants are competing — and I'm one of them, so I follow the leaderboard with more than academic interest.

Here's who is leading after four months (performance through April 30, 2026), and what their numbers actually tell you.

Tin Chun Jimmy Li — +394.9%. The runaway leader. Nearly quadrupling a real-money account in four months in a stocks-only division (no futures, no long options) is a pace the championship has rarely seen at this point in the year.

Tom Doub, Ph.D. (Arcadia Analytics) — +286.5%. A former clinical psychologist who taught at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, now running an AI-assisted process out of Tennessee. He finished Q1 at +190.5% and has kept accelerating.

Martin Luk — +218.1% and Heather Qi — +217.5%. Locked in a near dead heat for third, both more than tripling their accounts.

Nicholaos Stroumpakis — +120.5%. Rounding out the triple-digit club in stocks.

Behind them: M Suk Capital +87.7%, Emmett Iheagwara +83.5%, JY Trading +79.7%, and a long tail of disciplined performers — John Rodrigues +53.7%, Mario Fuchs +52%, Ransome Mathias +50.6%, Michael Keung +40.4%, and Michael Kwok +20%.

Tito Adhikary, Ph.D. — +427.1%. The defending champion and the story of the competition. A Harvard-affiliated cancer researcher at Dana-Farber with no Wall Street background, he set the all-time USIC record in 2025 at +2,115.1% — the best result in any division since the championship began in 1983. He's leading again.

Baran Kayhan, CFA — +275.7%. Born in Izmir, now managing Toronto-based Euclid Technologies. The remarkable part: he's simultaneously leading the $1M+ Money Manager division at +156.6% — putting up these numbers with serious size, not a small account.

Rinchen Dorjee Bhutia — +170%, John Rodrigues — +134.9% (competing in both divisions), Caiyi Tang — +108.2%, and Greg Diamond — +87% complete the leading group.

This is the division the press watches least and allocators watch most — managers trading $1M+ of real money. In stocks, Ron Bagley (Bagley Capital Management) leads at +24.7%, with Jason Speziale +24.3% and Sheri Marcus +24.1% within half a point — a three-way race. In enhanced growth, Baran Kayhan's +156.6% leads ahead of Azo Cheng+104.2% and Icewater Capital +76.8%.

Notice the gap: the $1M+ stock leaders are at ~25%, while the $20k stock leaders are at ~400%. Size changes everything. Returns that look modest next to the leaderboard's fireworks are often the more repeatable skill.

Full transparency: I'm at +5.4% (Trend Alpha Corp., Stock Division). After finishing Top 20 in the 2024 championship, this year my rules-based system has spent much of 2026 defensively positioned — the same stance I wrote about when I passed on the SpaceX IPO. A championship rewards maximum aggression over twelve months; managing real wealth rewards staying solvent over decades. I compete to keep my process honest and public, not to bet the account on a trophy.

That's also how I'd suggest reading this leaderboard. Admire the +400% prints — they're real and verified. But the lesson isn't "swing harder." It's that every name above trades a defined process with defined risk. If you want help building one of your own, book a consultation.

What is the US Investing Championship? A real-money investing competition founded by Norm Zadeh, Ph.D., running since 1983 (restarted in 2019). Entrants link a verified brokerage account — minimum $20,000, or $1 million+ for the Money Manager Verified Ratings — and are ranked by percentage gain. Past participants include Paul Tudor Jones, Mark Minervini, David Ryan, and Marty Schwartz. The 2026 edition has 660 entrants.

Who is leading the 2026 US Investing Championship? Through April 30, 2026: Tin Chun Jimmy Li leads the Stock Division at +394.9%, Tito Adhikary leads the Enhanced Growth Division at +427.1%, and Ron Bagley leads the $1M+ Money Manager stock division at +24.7%. Tito Adhikary also holds the all-time record: +2,115.1% in 2025.

How do you enter the US Investing Championship? Sign up at financial-competitions.com. The minimum account is $20,000 (smaller accounts are normalized to $20,000), and accounts using futures or long options compete in the Enhanced Growth Division. Entries after January 2 use the account value on the day of entry as the starting point.