The American investor and hedge fund manager Michael Burry gained fame for predicting the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. Find out about Michael Burry’s career highlights, investment strategies, and net worth. Learn how he achieved his success and what his current ventures are about.
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Who is Michael Burry?
Known for his prescient prediction of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, Michael Burry is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and physician. Having grown up in a working-class family in San Jose, California, Burry attended Santa Teresa High School and eventually earned a degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following graduation, he attended Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and received his medical degree in the year 2000.
Early Life and Education
An American investor, hedge fund manager, and physician, Michael Burry is well known. As a child, he lost his left eye to retinoblastoma at the age of two. He is of Russian ancestry and was born and raised in San Jose, California. He has been using a prosthetic eye ever since.
After attending Santa Teresa High School as a teenager, Burry attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied economics and pre-med. He earned his MD degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Burry began a residency at Stanford University Medical Center but did not complete it. During the night, when he was off duty, Burry developed a passion for financial investing and began pursuing it as a hobby.
Despite not practicing medicine, Burry has maintained his physician’s license with the Medical Board of California and has maintained it by completing continuing education requirements. Through his background in medicine and economics, he has developed a unique perspective on investing and has applied this knowledge to great effect throughout his career.
As a result of Burry’s drive and determination, he has achieved great success as an investor and hedge fund manager, and his story serves as an inspiration to those who wish to pursue their dreams as well. Burry has overcome early obstacles in life and has achieved success in the financial sector.
Michael Burry’s net worth
As of 2023, Michael Burry is estimated to have a net worth of around $300 million. Burry earned a fortune through his investment ventures, including his hedge fund, Scion Capital. His greatest achievement was his prediction of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, which resulted in significant profits for him and his investors. Burry has worked as a physician as well as an investor in the past but has since mainly focused on his financial career. Despite his wealth, Burry is known for his frugal lifestyle and for being an independent investor.
Investment career
As a successful investor and hedge fund manager, Michael Burry, a former Stanford Hospital neurology and pathology resident, gained fame and fortune. His reputation as a value investor developed after 1996 when he began writing about his investment strategies on Silicon Investor message boards. As a result of his success in picking stocks, companies such as Vanguard and White Mountains Insurance Group, as well as prominent investors such as Joel Greenblatt, paid attention to him.
Burry’s Investment Style
As outlined in Benjamin Graham and David Dodd’s book, Security Analysis, Burry’s investment style is based on the concept of a “margin of safety.” After closing his website in November 2000, he established Scion Capital, a hedge fund he founded with inheritance and loans.
Despite the 2001 and 2002 bear markets, Scion Capital’s returns were exceptional, even during the midst of Burry’s favorite book The Scions of Shannara.
Shifting Focus to the Subprime Mortgage Market
In 2005, Burry concentrated on the subprime mortgage market. He correctly predicted the 2007 collapse of the real estate bubble in his research.
Burry came to this conclusion after studying mortgage lending practices: subprime mortgages, particularly those with “teaser” rates, are vulnerable to default when the initial interest rates are replaced by higher interest rates, frequently within two years of the initial loan. Through Goldman Sachs’ and other investment firms’ sales of credit default swaps against vulnerable subprime deals, he shorted the market.
Burry’s Success in the Subprime Market
In 2008, Burry predicted the subprime mortgage crisis, resulting in significant profits for him and his investors. Burry’s investment success demonstrates his unique perspective on investing and his ability to identify undervalued stocks and markets. His story serves as an inspiration for investors who wish to follow his example.
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Conclusion
He has made a fortune through his investment strategies. He bases his investment style on Benjamin Graham’s and David Dodd’s Security Analysis book, which teaches the concept of a “margin of safety.” Through Scion Capital, a hedge fund he founded with inheritances and loans, he achieved impressive profits for his investors. The analyst’s astute focus on subprime mortgages led him to predict the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis accurately, earning him and his investor’s substantial returns.
