Michael Burry’s fame far exceeds his fortune. The man who predicted the 2008 housing crash made $100 million on the trade, but his net worth sits at roughly $300 million — a fraction of what many assume.

Net worth (estimated): $300 million (2025) ·
Peak fund return (Scion Capital): 489.34% (2000-2008) ·
Famous for: Shorting subprime mortgages before 2008 crisis ·
Current role: Hedge fund manager, Scion Asset Management ·
Education: M.D., Vanderbilt University

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
  • Exact current net worth is not publicly verified (Glen Bradford)
  • Overall success rate across all trades is unknown (WhaleWisdom)
  • Whether he uses AI in investing is speculative (Fintel)
3Timeline signal
4What’s next

Here is a table summarizing Burry’s key biographical facts.

Key facts about Michael Burry
Attribute Value
Full name Michael James Burry
Born 1971, San Jose, California
Education M.D., Vanderbilt University
Known for Shorting subprime mortgages
Net worth ~$300 million (2025 estimate)

The implication: Burry’s biography is short on personal details but long on a single defining trade.

How much money did Michael Burry make from the subprime short?

Scion Capital’s total return

  • Scion Capital returned 489.34% net to investors from 2000 through 2008, compared to the S&P 500’s 7.1% over the same period (The Wall Street Journal).
  • Burry’s fund peaked at roughly $1.5 billion in assets, with the subprime short generating more than $700 million in profits for his investors (SEC filings).

Personal profit from the trade

Michael Burry personally made approximately $100 million from the subprime short, according to U.S. News & World Report. His fee structure as manager of Scion Capital allowed him to take a 20% performance fee on profits, plus a 1.5% management fee on assets.

Bottom line: Michael Burry turned $1.1 million in seed capital into a $1.5 billion peak fund. For retail investors, the lesson is that concentrated, research-driven bets can outperform — but the emotional toll and client pressure nearly broke him.

Is Michael Burry a billionaire?

Net worth estimates

Michael Burry is widely estimated to have a personal net worth of about $300 million as of 2025 (U.S. News & World Report). A 2026 profile from Glen Bradford also places his net worth at $300 million, though this is considered a rough estimate given Burry’s private nature (Glen Bradford).

The upshot

Burry is wealthier than the typical hedge fund manager his age, but he is not in the billionaire class. For a doctor-turned-investor who started with $1.1 million, the trajectory is remarkable — but the gap between his reputation and his net worth is larger than most people assume.

Comparison to other investors

To put Burry’s $300 million in context: fellow Big Short investor John Paulson reportedly earned $4 billion on his subprime trades, and David Einhorn’s net worth is estimated at over $1.5 billion (Forbes). Burry’s wealth is real but not generational.

The implication: Burry’s fame far exceeds his fortune, partly because he redistributed most of his fund’s profits to investors rather than compounding his own capital.

Is Michael Burry a good investor?

Track record at Scion Capital

From 2000 to 2008, Scion Capital returned 489.34% net to investors (The Wall Street Journal). That is a 66% annualized return over eight years — a record very few fund managers have matched.

Post-2008 performance

After closing Scion Capital in 2008, Burry launched Scion Asset Management in 2013. The 13F filings show a pattern of concentrated bets and frequent turnover (WhaleWisdom). In Q1 2025, Scion reportedly exited all previous equity holdings and replaced them with a small portfolio dominated by put options on tech stocks (LevelFields AI).

Criticisms and losses

  • Lost money on a short position against Gamestop in 2021 as the meme stock rally squeezed shorts (Reuters).
  • Scion Capital had losing quarters — including a 20%+ drawdown in 2005 — but ended overall net positive.
  • His public predictions (via Twitter/X and Substack) do not always match his actual portfolio moves, creating a credibility gap for casual followers.
The trade-off

Burry’s all-or-nothing style means his winners are spectacular and his losers are brutal. Investors who try to copy his 13F filings need to accept that they are seeing positions with a 45-day lag — exactly when he may have already exited.

Why this matters: calling Burry a “good investor” depends on your timeframe. On an eight-year horizon he was exceptional. On a 15-year horizon his record is mixed — he has not repeated his 2008 success.

What is Michael Burry’s success rate?

Defining success rate

There is no publicly available metric that calculates Burry’s win-loss ratio across all his trades. Hedge fund managers are not required to disclose each individual position’s performance unless they file 13F forms (which only show long equity holdings quarterly).

Public vs private trades

  • Scion Capital’s 7-year track record is his most documented success — no losing years and a 489.34% cumulative return.
  • Post-2013, Scion Asset Management’s 13F filings show a mixed pattern: some winners (betting against overvalued tech in 2022) and some losers (Gamestop short in 2021).
  • The Q3 2025 portfolio analysis by The Acquirer’s Multiple shows put options on Palantir and Nvidia made up nearly 80% of reported portfolio value, indicating a concentrated bearish bet on those names.
Bottom line: For a retail investor looking to follow Burry, the signal-to-noise ratio is low. His 13F filings are the only objective data point. His tweets and Substack posts are commentary, not trading instructions.

Has Michael Burry lost money?

Notable losing trades

Yes, Michael Burry has lost money on several high-profile trades. The most famous was his short position on Gamestop in 2021. As the stock surged from $20 to over $300, Burry reportedly covered at a loss (Reuters).

Market downturns

Scion Capital experienced drawdowns during the 2005-2006 period when his subprime thesis seemed premature, but the fund recovered dramatically. At Scion Asset Management, the concentrated portfolio structure means any single wrong bet can cause a material loss (WhaleWisdom).

What to watch

The Q1 2025 shift into concentrated put options means Burry is now making binary bets — big wins or total losses. For anyone mirroring his moves, the risk has never been higher.

The pattern: Burry’s losses, while painful, have not wiped him out. His structure allows him to survive drawdowns that would kill a less defensive fund.

Michael Burry’s investment timeline

  • 2000 — Founded Scion Capital with $1.1 million
  • 2005-2007 — Began shorting subprime mortgage bonds (SEC filings)
  • 2008 — Scion Capital peaks; Burry closes fund to outside investors
  • 2010 — Featured in Michael Lewis’s “The Big Short” (W. W. Norton)
  • 2013 — Started Scion Asset Management (WhaleWisdom)
  • 2021 — Short squeeze on Gamestop; Burry reportedly lost money (Reuters)
  • 2023-present — Active on Substack; frequent 13F filings (LevelFields AI)
Timeline signal: Burry’s career follows a pattern — long silence, then a massive concentrated bet, then public attention, then quiet again. The Q1 2025 put option strategy is his latest signal.
Additional sources

moneymade.io, hedgefundalpha.com, instagram.com, stockcircle.com, sophisticatedinvestor.com, x.com

For a deeper look at his current holdings and market outlook, see Michael Burrys portfolio predictions.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Burry’s investment strategy?

Burry describes himself as a value investor who looks for undervalued and/or misunderstood situations. Scion’s filings confirm a fundamental, research-driven approach that may involve equities, bonds, derivatives, and activism (WhaleWisdom). He is deeply contrarian and will bet against consensus.

How did Michael Burry predict the 2008 crisis?

Burry analyzed mortgage bond data that most investors ignored. He noticed that subprime mortgages were being originated to borrowers with poor credit, bundled into securities, and sold as low-risk. He saw the default risk and shorted the bonds through credit default swaps (W. W. Norton).

What stocks is Michael Burry buying now?

As of Q3 2025, according to a portfolio analysis by The Acquirer’s Multiple, Scion’s portfolio was heavily weighted in put options on Palantir and Nvidia, suggesting a bearish outlook on those names. He had exited all equity holdings in Q1 2025.

Does Michael Burry have a Twitter account?

Yes, he was active on Twitter under the handle @michaeljburry. He has since deactivated his account multiple times and now posts primarily on Substack under “Cassandra Unchained” (Cassandra Unchained).

Is Michael Burry still investing?

Yes, Burry continues to manage Scion Asset Management. He files regular 13F disclosures with the SEC, and the most recent filings show active trading with a concentrated put option strategy (LevelFields AI).

What is Scion Asset Management?

Scion Asset Management is the hedge fund firm Burry founded in 2013. It is a registered investment advisor with an AUM of $154,933,555 as of a 2025 Form ADV summary (WhaleWisdom). The firm’s disclosed strategy includes equities, special situations, bonds, derivatives, macroeconomics, and activism.

How much did Michael Burry make from The Big Short?

Burry did not directly profit from the book or film “The Big Short” beyond the normal licensing payments. His income from the subprime short came through Scion Capital’s performance fees, which netted him approximately $100 million (U.S. News & World Report).

What is Michael Burry’s educational background?

Burry earned an M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and completed a residency in neurology at Stanford University. His medical training influences his analytical discipline and his ability to process large datasets (Vanderbilt University).

For any investor in the U.S. market who is considering following Burry’s moves, the choice is clear: treat his 13F filings as a lagging indicator and his public statements as entertainment, or risk buying the positions he has already exited.

Related reading