Michael James Burry was born on June 19, 1971. He ran Scion Capital from 2000 to 2008. Later, he closed it to pay attention to his personal investment. He correctly predicted the subprime mortgage crisis that lasted from 2007 to 2010. He shorted the 2007 mortgage bond market by swapping collateralised debt obligations (CDO) and made a propositional profit of $100 Million and $700 Million for his investors.
Early Life and Education of Michale Burry
Michael Burry was born and raised in San Jose, California. When he was two years old, he lost his left eye due to retinoblastoma. He has worn a prosthetic eye since then. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California and also studied premed. At Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, he earned a degree in medicine. At Stanford University Medical Center, he applied for a pathology degree but did not complete it.
After discontinuing further education, he started a hedge fund. Due to his interest in financial investing, he gained a lot of knowledge in the field.
About Scion Capital
Scion Capital is funded by inheritance and loans from Burry’s family. He named the company after his favorite novel, The Scions of Shannara. The fund was profitable with investors receiving profits quite early.
Burry comes up with strategies that are different from the herd mentality. He closed Scion Capital in 2008. In 2013, he founded Scion Asset Management LLC, a private investment firm that he manages today. According to the company’s SEC filings, the Firm had $201 Million in assets under management as of March 2022.
He has invested in many companies, some of which are New York community Bancorp Inc. Signet Jewelers Ltd., JD.com Inc (ADR), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (ADR), etc.
One of the main players in the book and a character in a movie about the housing crisis named ‘The Big Short’ portray Burry. In the movie, Christian Bale played Burry.
How is Michael Burry Different From Other Investors?
Michael Burry admitted that he developed his investing style on the basis of the book Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. The main part of Burry’s investment is a margin of safety. He said that all my stock picking is 100% based on the concept of margin of safety.
Burry’s ways of investing are different. He says that he looks for value anywhere and everywhere. His famous investment is not ‘stalking’ but the credit default swaps he used to short the housing market. He never makes decisions that are affected by market sentiment but rather based on technical analysis. He is also very selective about investments. Scion Asset Management held only nine stocks at the end of 2022.
Summary
Michael Burry is one of the most famous and successful money managers in history and has a personal net worth of over $300 Million.
