People

Michael Burry

Michael Burry

Formal First Name
Michael
Nick Name
The Big Short Investor
Link
Dates
1971 - present
Location

Michael Burry is a prominent value investor, hedge fund manager, and stark proponent of fundamental analysis. Burry was the Founder of Scion Capital, a fund he managed during the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, making billions in profits for his clients during the collapse of the American housing market. He  is best known for betting against the securitized mortgage market before its collapse in 2007 prior to the Great Recession. Burry is the real-life fund manager behind Christian Bale's protagonist role in 2015's The Big Short, which offered a fictionalized version of some key players in the subprime mortgage crisis.

MARKET FORECASTS

  • Burry was amongst the first investors to predict and profit from the subprime mortgage crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010. 

  • He also foresaw the failures of companies such as AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. 

  • He forecasted that the housing bubble would burst as early as 2007, and acted on his conviction by betting against subprime mortgages, using credit default swaps.

  • His investment style is firmly grounded in the principles of value investing, a strategy advocated by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd.


SCION ASSET MANAGEMENT

  • In 2000, Burry made a significant move by launching Scion Capital, his own investment fund. The fund's initial capital boost of $1 million came from Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Capital, who was an avid reader of Burry's blog.

  • The film "The Big Short" chronicled Burry’s successful 2008 stock market crash prediction. As the founder of Scion Capital, he foresaw the impending collapse of the housing bubble in the late 2000s, a calamity that significantly impacted the economy.

  • He rose to fame after he predicted the 2008 U.S. housing crash and managed to net $100 million in personal profits, and another $700 million for his investors with a few lucrative, out-of-consensus bets.

  • In 2008, Burry shut down Scion Capital to focus on his personal investments. In 2013, he incorporated Scion Asset Management, a private investment firm he still runs today.

  • Burry and his firm played a notable part in initiating GameStop’s widely publicized, retail investor-fueled short squeeze, which occurred in early 2021.


MEDIA & APPEARANCES