About
Michael Burry is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and physician who achieved legendary status for his successful prediction and profitable bet against the U.S. subprime mortgage market before the 2008 financial crisis. Here's who he is:
Michael Burry was born in 1971 in San Jose, California, and originally trained as a medical doctor, completing his residency in neurology at Stanford Hospital. While working grueling medical shifts, he began writing investment analyses on online message boards that gained a cult following for their depth and contrarian insights. In 2000, he left medicine to found Scion Capital, a hedge fund that delivered exceptional returns through deep value investing. Between 2005 and 2007, Burry became one of the first investors to recognize the impending collapse of the housing market, purchasing credit default swaps on subprime mortgage bonds when almost no one else saw the risk.
Burry is known for his intensely independent research, willingness to take positions that appear crazy to others, and ability to spot macro trends before the market recognizes them. His investment approach combines exhaustive fundamental analysis with contrarian macro thinking, often leading to concentrated bets that can take years to pay off. He's particularly skilled at finding market inefficiencies and asymmetric opportunities where the potential downside is limited but upside is enormous. Burry has Asperger's syndrome, which he credits with giving him the focus and ability to see patterns others miss, as well as the emotional detachment to maintain conviction when facing intense criticism.
Beyond his mortgage crisis bet, Burry has made prescient calls on water rights, GameStop (before the meme stock phenomenon), and various macro risks including inflation and market bubbles. He closed Scion Capital in 2008 after the crisis, later reopening it as a private investment vehicle, and has become increasingly vocal about market risks through cryptic Twitter posts that often prove prophetic. His story was immortalized in Michael Lewis's book "The Big Short" and the subsequent Oscar-winning film, where he was portrayed by Christian Bale. Despite his success, Burry remains an enigmatic figure who values privacy, frequently deletes his social media posts, and continues to challenge conventional market wisdom.
Michael Burry's Best Quotes
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"I have always believed that a single talented analyst, working very hard, can cover an amazing amount of investment landscape, and this belief remains unchallenged in my mind."
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"The borrowers will default. It's inevitable. The entire structure is a house of cards."
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"I don't go out looking for ideas. I wait for ideas to come to me, and when they do, it's usually because something is very, very wrong."
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"Markets are driven by fear and greed, and right now everyone has forgotten what fear feels like."
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"If you're going to be a contrarian, you have to be able to withstand enormous criticism and often ridicule. You have to believe in your research more than you believe in the crowd."
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"The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient."
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"In the end, the market will be right, but it can take a very long time to get there. In the meantime, you can look very, very wrong."
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"I focus on the downside. If I can't lose much, then I've found something interesting."
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"The Fed has no endgame. This will end badly."
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"You don't have to be brilliant, just a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long, long time."
Obras escritas
Scion Capital Investor Letters (2000-2008)
Burry's quarterly letters to Scion Capital investors are considered some of the most insightful investment writings of the 2000s, particularly his letters from 2005-2007 detailing his analysis of the housing market and subprime mortgage securities. These letters show his analytical process, explain his contrarian positions in real-time, and document the psychological pressure of maintaining conviction while facing investor redemptions and widespread skepticism. His early letters on deep value stocks demonstrate his Graham-and-Dodd approach, while later letters reveal his evolution into macro-thematic investing. These letters are studied by investors seeking to understand how to develop and maintain conviction in contrarian positions.
"The Big Short" by Michael Lewis (Primary Subject)
While not written by Burry himself, Michael Lewis's 2010 bestselling book extensively chronicles Burry's analysis of the mortgage market, his struggle to convince others of the impending crisis, and his patient wait for the thesis to play out. The book includes details from Burry's emails, letters, and research, effectively documenting his thought process and methodology. It shows how Burry personally read hundreds of mortgage bond prospectuses, built financial models, and recognized patterns in lending standards that others overlooked. The book transformed Burry from an obscure hedge fund manager into a cultural icon of prescient contrarian investing.
Early Investment Blog and Message Board Posts
Before founding Scion Capital, Burry gained recognition for his detailed investment analyses posted on online message boards and his personal website. These early writings from the late 1990s showcase his fundamental analysis skills, value investing approach, and ability to identify overlooked small-cap opportunities. His posts on companies like GameStop (which he invested in as early as 2019, long before the meme stock craze) and other deeply undervalued securities demonstrated his ability to perform thorough bottom-up research. These writings helped him attract his first investors and established his reputation as a serious analyst.
Twitter Commentary and Market Warnings
Burry has used Twitter (though he frequently deletes his account) to share cryptic market warnings, investment ideas, and macro observations. His tweets have warned about index fund bubbles, cryptocurrency speculation, inflation risks, and dangerous Federal Reserve policies. Despite their brevity, these posts often prove remarkably prescient, such as his warnings about speculative excess in 2020-2021 and his early calls on inflation. He's also used the platform to share investment ideas, recommend books, and critique market narratives. Though he often deletes tweets shortly after posting, they're widely screenshotted and analyzed by investors seeking to decode his latest warnings.
Interviews and Public Statements on Market Structure
Burry has given several rare but important interviews discussing his views on passive investing, index funds, and market structure. In a 2019 Bloomberg interview, he warned that passive investing had created a bubble comparable to collateralized debt obligations before the financial crisis. His public statements on water rights as an investment theme, farmland investing, and resource scarcity have influenced investor thinking about long-term macro trends. His warnings about excessive leverage, monetary policy distortions, and market fragility consistently challenge consensus views.
"Scion Asset Management Letters" (Post-2013)
After reopening Scion as a family office and small fund, Burry has continued writing investor letters, though these are more closely held. The letters reportedly cover his positions in water rights, gold, agricultural assets, and his bets against various market bubbles. His 13F filings, which are public, show positions that often seem bizarre until they're vindicated, such as his massive put options on the NASDAQ and S&P 500 before market corrections. These positions and the limited commentary he provides serve as ongoing lessons in contrarian macro investing and patience