Michael Burry

Dr. Michael Burry is the founder of Scion Asset Management (originally Scion Capital) and one of the most famous contrarian investors in history, best known for predicting and profiting from the 2007-2008 subprime mortgage crisis — a trade immortalized in Michael Lewis's bestselling book "The Big Short" and the Oscar-winning film adaptation where he was portrayed by Christian Bale.

Born in San Jose, California, Burry lost his left eye to retinoblastoma as a toddler and was fitted with a glass eye. He attended UCLA for undergraduate studies and earned his M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, but his true passion was always investing. During his medical residency at Stanford, Burry spent his rare nights off writing investment analysis on online message boards, building such a following that established fund managers began seeking his advice. In 2000, he abandoned medicine to launch Scion Capital with a small pool of investor capital.

Burry's early years at Scion were marked by extraordinary stock-picking returns. But his defining moment came in 2005, when he began studying the U.S. housing market and recognized that subprime mortgage-backed securities were built on catastrophically flawed underwriting. He convinced Goldman Sachs and other banks to create credit default swaps that would allow him to short the housing market — instruments that essentially did not exist before he demanded them. His investors grew furious as the trade lost money for two years, and several demanded their capital back. But when the housing market collapsed in 2007-2008, Scion's investors earned over 489% total returns, and Burry personally made over $100 million. He was later diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, which he credits for his ability to focus intensely on data that others overlook.