Michael Burry is probably the most extraordinary investor of our time. His prediction of the 2008 financial crisis earned him fame and respect... and of course a pretty sizable net worth.
What’s better? Being a billionaire or having your life interpreted by Christian Bale? Well, investor and market expert Michael Burry does not have to choose: his bet against the housing market in 2007 earned him an outstanding net worth and was later depicted in the movie The Big Short, where Christian Bale plays his part.
As a matter of fact, Michael Burry made two wild predictions in his financial career, both considered crazy at the time but that, with enough patience, paid out immensely.
It’s not a coincidence that Michael Burry calls himself “Cassandra” on X (formerly known as Twitter). According to the ancient Greek myth, Cassandra was cursed by the gods to always make correct predictions but never to be believed. The last prediction Cassandra made in her life was to leave the horse left by the Mycenaean army outside the doors of Troy. Unfortunately, nobody listened to her.
What was Michael Burry’s “big short”?
In 2005, there was no safer investment than real estate. Especially in the United States, the real estate market was extremely profitable and reliable, worth trillions of dollars and rising.
However, Michael Burry saw something no one else did. He noticed that AAA mortgage sets (dubbed “CDOs”) were actually filled with low-rating, high-risk obligations. This meant that triple-A CDOs, normally considered the safest asset on the real estate market, in reality, were ticking time bombs.
Once enough low-rating mortgage owners would inevitably fail to meet their obligations, the entire system would crumble to the ground, Burry predicted.
It was a bold prediction, but Burry was absolutely certain he was right. He managed to convince a handful of other investors who bet billions on this short.
In 2008, while most people lost their jobs, houses, and savings in the worst financial crisis since 1929, Michael Burry added $100 million to his bank account. His prediction was right.
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What is Michael Burry’s net worth?
The 2007 bet wasn’t the only “big short” in Burry’s career. He similarly predicted a market crash in 2001, soon before the dot-com bubble burst. Scion, Michael Burry’s firm, grew 71% in value in less than two years thanks to this prediction.
Overall, these and other successful investments made him a billionaire. As of 2023, Michael Burry’s net worth is estimated at $1.6 billion.
In early 2023, Burry tweeted an ominous “ Sell ” on his account. Later on, on April 1st, he backtracked admitting he was wrong. Is Michael Burry confident in the future of the S&P 500? Only time will tell.
