Michael Burry, of ‘Big Short’ fame, just bet $1.6 billion on a stock market crash | CNN Business (2024)

FAQs

What happened to Michael Burry in The Big Short? ›

Despite the millions Burry made for himself and his investors, he faced substantial criticism, leading him to shut down his original hedge fund, Scion Capital, in 2008. Partly driven by public reaction to his strategy and a desire to explore other investment ventures, he made this decision.

Michael Burry, who famously shorted subprime mortgages during the 2008 financial crisis, closed his bets against the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 in the third quarter. But he also found another industry to short: semiconductors.

During the second quarter of 2021, he reportedly held put options valued at almost $31 million on the ARKK ETF innovation index managed by Ark Invest. In August 2023, it was widely reported that Burry's hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, had made a $1.6 billion bet on a US stock market crash.

Key Takeaways. Michael Burry is an investor who profited from the subprime mortgage crisis by shorting the 2007 mortgage bond market, making $100 million for himself and $700 million for his investors. Burry shut down his hedge fund, Scion Capital, in 2008.

Investor Michael Burry rose to fame after he predicted the 2008 housing market collapse and actor Christian Bale portrayed him in 2015's "The Big Short." The film, which won acclaim as one of the best movies about Wall Street, highlighted Burry's call to "short" the U.S. housing market, betting against the industry by ...

Is Burry short $1.6 billion on the S&P 500 (SPY) and Nasdaq (QQQ)? The short answer is "NO." Burry released his Q2 13-F filing with the list of holdings most notable was his bearish option trade.

In perhaps the most successful and notorious move of his investing career, Burry essentially shorted the overvalued and under-regulated mortgage-backed securities industry as it was ballooning in the mid to late 2000s, a saga that was immortalized in the 2015 film The Big Short.

Michael Burry, of 'Big Short' fame, just bet $1.6 billion on a stock market crash. Michael Burry, the “Big Short” investor who became famous for correctly predicting the epic collapse of the housing market in 2008, has bet more than $1.6 billion on a Wall Street crash.

In a nutshell, that's the Burry bear thesis – or, at the least, our interpretation of it based on a piecing together of his always-cryptic tweets. Basically, Michael Burry doesn't believe inflation will recede. And as a result, he thinks stocks are doomed. So… he sold everything.

He prefers water-rich farmland away from large governmental and infrastructural limitations. Burry has said in interview: “What became clear to me is that food is the way to invest in water. That is, grow food in water-rich areas and transport it for sale in water-poor areas.

What happened in The Big Short? ›

Summary. The Big Short describes several of the main players in the creation of the credit default swap market who sought to bet against the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) bubble and thus ended up profiting from the financial crisis of 2007–08.

The Bottom Line

Though the 2008 crisis impacted the entire global financial system, it was caused by the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States. As a result, many of its major players were U.S. government officials and corporate leaders of U.S. financial institutions.

In the United States, the stock market plummeted, wiping out nearly $8 trillion in value between late 2007 and 2009. Unemployment climbed, peaking at 10 percent in October 2009. Americans lost $9.8 trillion in wealth as their home values plummeted and their retirement accounts vaporized.

Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sach's Chief Economist, has won awards for predicting the Great Financial Crisis of '08. As new fears of a recession creep up on the US economy, Hatzius says this is the likelihood of one in 2024.

Michael lost his left eye to cancer when he was a child, and was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as an adult—which might partly explain why he has always been able to see things from a different vantage point in the world of Wall Street.

In the film, hedge fund manager Mark Baum is devastated by a family tragedy in the middle of the impending financial crisis, which turns out to be the death of his brother by suicide. The real-life Steve Eisman did face a similar tragedy. However, it involved the death of his infant son, Max.

Michael Burry made $100 million by predicting the housing market crash in The Big Short. Mark Baum, based on Steve Eisman, earned $1 billion from the market crash depicted in the film. Jared Vennett, based on Greg Lippmann, made $47 million from swap sales as shown in the movie.