American investor Michael Burry has an estimated net worth of $300 million to $320 million. A physician and investor, Burry is widely known as the founder of a Hedge Fund, ‘Scion Capital LLC’. A famous figure in the investment world, Michael Burry is best known for correctly predicting the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis.
Dr. Michael Burry was the famous value investor featured in “The Big Short”, a movie documenting the events preceding the US housing bubble crash in 2007. He first appeared as a character in Michael Lewis’s book, “The Big Short”, and was well-portrayed in the adapted blockbuster movie of the same title.
| Full Name | Michael James Burry |
|---|---|
| Net Worth | $300 million – $320 million |
| Age | 51 |
| Date of Birth and Place | June 19, 1971 / San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Physician, Investor, and Hedge Fund Manager |
| Nationality and Hometown | American / Saratoga, California |
| Marital Status | Married |
Who is Michael Burry?
Michael Burry was born and raised in San Jose, California. At the tender years of two, he lost his left eye to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer. He’s had to wear a prosthetic eye since then. He reportedly also had a mild case of autism which made him develop an introverted personality.
Michael Burry overcame his challenging early life and even developed an ability to hold his concentration and focus while studying advanced topics. He attended Santa Teresa High School as a teenager.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, Burry studied Economics and Pre-Med. He earned an MD degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He started his residency in pathology at Stanford University Medical Center but didn’t finish. Though he has an active license to practice medicine in California, he doesn’t.
| Education | Doctor of Medicine |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 6 inch (168 cm) |
| Weight | 165 lbs (75 kg) |
| Zodiac Sign | Gemini |
From his days in Stanford Medical Center, Dr. Burry worked on ‘his hobby’, financial investing, while off duty. Little wonder he took the bold step to leave medicine and start a hedge fund. Before then, he had already made a name for himself by demonstrating success in value investing.
Michael Burry’s brilliance as an investor was obvious from the onset as he made numerous successful stock picks. It was only a matter of time before he attracted the interest of companies like White Mountain Insurance Group and Vanguard, as well as prominent investors, such as Joel Greenblatt.
What is Michael Burry’s net worth in 2023?
As of this year, 2023, Michael Burry’s net worth is estimated to be in the region of $300 million to $320 million. Of course, a good portion of this net worth was earned from Scion Capital and Scion Asset Management, which he built from scratch.
Building from scratch – Scion Capital
When Michael Burry decided to abandon his residency program and focus on financial investing, he started the hedge fund Scion Capital in November 2000. It’s on record that he started with an inheritance and loan from his family.
In its first full year in 2001, Author, Michael Lewis, wrote that Scion Capital was up 55%, even as the S&P 500 fell 11.88%. He was able to beat the stock market again in 2002 and 2003. By the end of 2004, Michael Burry’s reputation had grown so well – he was reportedly managing about $600 million and turning money away.
The Subprime mortgage crisis
In 2005, Burry started focusing on the Subprime market. He had already analyzed mortgage lending practices in 2003 and 2004 and was convinced that the real estate bubble would collapse as early as 2007. He was able to convince many of his investors to join in his massive bet against the housing market.
Just as he predicted, the Subprime mortgage crisis or meltdown started in 2007. This made Dr. Burry even more popular. His profits, at the time, were also staggering. He reportedly made a personal profit of $100 million, while his remaining investors received a combined profit of $700 million. In fact, between 2000 and 2008, when Scion Capital existed, it recorded an impressive return of 489.34%.
The Big Short
In popular culture, Michael Burry is often linked to The Big Short. This is primarily because of the popular film adaptation of Michael Lewis’s best-selling book, titled “The Big Short”. In the said movie, he was portrayed by Christian Bale, who brought his Wall Street exploits, particularly the Subprime mortgage crisis.
Scion Asset Management
Dr. Burry reportedly liquidated his credit default swap in a Subprime mortgage in April 2008. This means he didn’t benefit from the bailouts of 2008 and 2009. He subsequently liquidated his company to focus on personal investment. In 2013, he reopened his hedge fund, this time, rebranding as Scion Asset Management. He also started focusing on gold, water, and farmlands.
Michael Burry currently runs Scion Asset Management as a private investment firm. As at 2020, the company’s largest investment was in Alphabet Inc. and Facebook (now Meta). He also held shares in Tesla, among other top companies. As of March 2022, SEC’s filing revealed that Scion Asset Management had $201 million in assets.
Value Investor with GameStop
Michael Burry is also known for his foray with GameStop. The famous investor bought shares in GameStop in 2009 when the stock was trading at about $4 per share. He remained committed and bought shares throughout 2020, when the stock rose to about $12 per share.
As at December 2020, Burry’s firm was one of the largest investors in GameStop, holding over 800 shares of the game-changing company. A Forbes report credited him as the ‘Hedge Fund Genius’ who started GameStop’s 4,000% rise. However, he sold his entire shares in late 2020. The same report claims that his 5.3% share of the company could have been worth over $1.5 billion at GameStop’s Reddit-fueled high of $483 per share.
The Bottom Line: Michael Burry is one of the best value investors
Michael Burry will probably be best known as one of the few investors to predict the subprime mortgage crisis correctly. He profited significantly by buying credit default swaps (CDS) against subprime deals and also made a lot of money for his investors.
It’s important to state that Micahel Burry remains active in the financial markets. He’s still much of a genius, investing prudently. He’s reported to have made a great deal of savvy investments during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, his net worth will likely continue to grow in the foreseeable future.
To learn more about the net worth of other prominent individuals, give our Jelly Roll, Ice Spice, and Ms Rachel net worth articles a read.
About the Author: Nathan Rivers
