Dr. Michael J. Burry Net Worth

Only a few people in the investing world can boast of an eye for spotting opportunities like Michael Burry. He first rose to prominence in the 2000s as a hedge fund manager during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008.

With the fund Scion Capital LLC, he recorded billions in profits for his client following the collapse of the American housing market

What Is Dr. Michael J. Burry’s Net Worth

As one of the best investors following an unconventional approach, Michael Burry currently has an estimated net worth of $300 million as of January 2023.

Although Dr. Michael Burry has degrees in both medicine and economics, he decided that a career in finance would suit him better as he already built his interest in the stock market while studying medicine. Michael Burry still maintains the Medical Board of California despite not practising.

Earnings Overview

Michael Burry is an American investor that currently has a net worth of $300 million. This is much more than the net worth of most celebrities, such as Tom Selleck, Sean Hannity, Simon Konecki and James Iannazzo.

He started his investment journey by starting and managing a hedge fund Scion Capital. In Scion Capital’s maiden year, it made a whopping 55% return. In the next two years, he realized 16% and 50%, despite the S&P 500 falling to 11.88%, 22.1%, and 16% respectively. By the end of 2004, he had managed $600 million.

Afterwards, Burry turned his focus to the subprime market and was able to predict the collapse of the real estate bubble in 2003 and 2004.

It took years for his predictions to come true but when they did, he made $100 million and $700 million as personal profit and his investors’ profit respectively. In total, between 2000 and 2008, his firm made a 489.34% return.

Early Life

With Rusyn ancestry, Michael Burry was born in San Jose, California on June 19, 1971. He suffered Retinoblastoma at the age of two, leading to the loss of his left eye, which made him live with a prosthetic eye since then.

Later in his life, Burry discovered he showed mild symptoms of Autism which was a major factor in his introverted nature and his ability to be deeply concentrated when studying technical and advanced subjects.

He started his education at Santa Teresa High School, and then he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied economics and pre-med.

Burry then earned an MD degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Although he’s not practising medical personnel, he kept his license under the Medical Board of California.

Career

Dr. Michael Burry worked briefly as a neurology and pathology resident at Stanford Hospital before starting up his hedge fund. Before starting a hedge fund he had built a portfolio as an investor due to his success in value investing.

He wrote about this particular feat on message boards on Silicon Investor’s stock discussion site in 1996.

Due to his success with his stock picks, he attracted notable companies like White Mountain Insurance Group, as well as notable investors like Joel Greenblatt. According to Burry, his investment style and values were built upon Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in 1934.

In November 2000, Burry shut down his website to start the hedge fund Scion Capital, a name inspired by The Scions of Shannara by Terry Brooks. The hedge fund was funded by inheritance and loans from family.

After gaining popularity due to his impressive profits realized from Scion capital, he switched focus to the subprime market in 2005. He studied and analyzed mortgage lending practices in 2003 and 2004, which led him to the famous prediction of the collapse of the real estate industry.

He carried out extensive research on the values of residential real estate and noticed that there would be a significant loss of value. With this knowledge, he convinced some investment firms like Goldman Sach to sell credit default swaps to him against subprime deals he considered vulnerable.

However, the whole process was not a smooth ride as some investors became doubtful over the accuracy of his predictions and threatened to withdraw their investments. At last, Burry cleared their doubts as his analysis proved to be correct.

On April 3, 2010, Michael Burry claimed that federal regulators failed to heed warnings from advisors on the housing market collapse.

He also claimed that anyone who studied and researched the financial market between 2003 and 2004 would have discovered the increasing risk in the subprime market and predicted the collapse.

After a while, he liquidated his company to channel his efforts into his investment. In 2013, he reopened his hedge fund, changing the name to Scion Asset Management and getting approval as an exempt reporting adviser. By this time, he focused on investment in farmland, water, and gold.

When his fund holdings topped $100 million, the SEC 13Fs filed from 2015 to the third quarter of 2016. This was when the world had a glimpse of his portfolio.

More than two years later, the fund Scion Asset Management filed another 13Fs when numerous large-cap stocks and asset management reached the filing threshold in 2019.

According to a previous tweet that was deleted, Michael Burry, in 2020, initiated short positions on Tesla in December. He is also likely to increase his short positions when Tesla’s market cap surpasses Facebook’s.

As he did in the housing market, Michael burry predicted the collapse of Tesla stock and even bantered the company to enjoy while it lasted.

He was reported to have said, “My last Big Short got bigger, Bigger, and BIGGER.” However, he revealed he would no longer short it following Tesla’s 100% rise in stock value in October 2021.

Between May and June 2021, he disclosed that a hold was put on about $31 million on Ark Invest’s ARKK ETF innovation management index.

Lessons to Learn from  Michael Burry’s Success

There are no limits to what one can achieve once they are determined. Despite growing up in an unfavourable environment and with health issues, he got to where he is today.

Risks are worth taking. His prediction could have cost investors lots of money if it had failed but he took the risk and it came off well.

Success is not defined by what you studied in the University, rather it is all about doing what you know how to do well the most.

Personal Life

Michael Burry is married with children. His son was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a disorder he believed to suffer when he read about it. As a child, he discovered it took him so much effort and energy to concentrate and look people in the eye.

He was reported to have said once:

If I’m looking at you, that’s the one time I know I won’t be listening to you.

How Michael Burry Spends His Money

Michael Burry invests about 60% of his hedge fund in real asset stock due to his fear of inflation. Also, Michael Burry buys a lot of farmland.

Being a great name in America and globally, Michael Burry owns a good number of assets, which include real estate properties. He owns houses in America, New York, San Jose, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, etc.

He also boasts of quite a luxurious garage with various car collections. As you would guess, he has in his possession some of the world’s most expensive cars Rolls Royce Phantom, Bentley Continental, Maserati Levante, Jaguar F type, and some others.

Michael Burry is a lover of heavy metal music. His favourite bands include Lamb of God, Obituary, Amon Amarth, Pantera, King Diamond, and Slipknot.

Michael Burry was a famous critic of the COVID-19-induced lockdown in the United State. He was portrayed in the 2015 film, “The Big Short” by Christian Bale and appeared in a few literature like Michael Lewis, The Big Short and Gregory Zuckerman, The Greatest Trade Ever.

Summary

Michael Burry is prominently known as an Investor. Born in 1971, the American investor is also known as a hedge fund founder and manager, as well as a licensed physician.

After medical school, Michael burry worked in two Standard hospitals as a pathologist and neurologist, after which he switched his attention towards starting and managing his hedge fund.

His new venture was nothing short of success as the fund saw remarkable success, which built his reputation among investment firms and top investors.

What brought Burry to the spotlight was his correct prediction of the housing market collapse, which came true after years of waiting amidst doubt over the accuracy of his prediction.

When his prediction finally happened, he had gained a profit of $100 million and $700 million for himself and his investors respectively.