There were a lot of interesting people who worked around the Chicago trading pits but Steve Fossett stood out for his amazing adventures which would always push the envelope of endurance and the human spirit. Fossett used his earnings from his interests at the Chicago exchanges to fund an amazing lifestyle filled with travel, aviation and sailing pursuits, many of which he set world records in. His wikipedia article linked here, does a much better job of detailing his exploits so in the interest of brevity I'll just to suggest to visit that to learn more.
One question I have which I hope someone can answer in the comments is what did he trade and even did he trade? The reason why I ask is that the wikipedia article noted that he worked for a institutional brokerage, operated his own clearing firm and also leased exchange seats but it said nothing about him trading. I couldn't imagine him not doing a lot of trading, especially as a successful firm was started by some partners of his so it's something likely omitted and it'd be interesting to learn more.