Few investors have captured the public imagination quite like Michael Burry. His prediction of the 2008 housing crash turned into a Hollywood story, and now, in the 2020s, he is once again making bold bets – this time against AI stocks.

Portfolio value (13F): $46 million (latest filing) ·
Known for: Predicting the 2008 housing crash ·
Current role: Founder of Scion Asset Management ·
Substack: Cassandra Unchained ·
Age: 53 (born 1971)

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
  • Exact current net worth
  • Whether his AI short will pay off
  • Future investment moves after SEC deregistration
3Timeline signal
4What’s next
  • No more public 13F filings – portfolio invisible (Open Interest segment)
  • Burry may continue Substack commentary (Open Interest segment)
  • Market watching for his next move (Open Interest segment)

Six key facts, one pattern: Burry’s career is a series of high-conviction contrarian bets that start with deep research and often make headlines only after they succeed or fail.

Label Value
Full Name Michael James Burry
Born 1971, San Jose, California (Wikipedia)
Education MD from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (Wikipedia)
Known For Predicting the 2008 housing crash (Wikipedia)
Net Worth Undisclosed; estimated under $500 million (Wikipedia)
Current Role Founder and manager of Scion Asset Management (Wikipedia)

How much is Michael Burry worth from The Big Short?

Michael Burry’s most famous trade – shorting subprime mortgages – generated over 400% returns for his investors at Scion Capital between 2005 and 2008 (Wikipedia). His personal profit from the fund and subsequent personal bets is estimated at around $100 million. But he is not a billionaire. According to Wikipedia, Burry’s net worth remains in the low hundreds of millions, largely because he closed Scion Capital in 2010 and returned much of the profits to investors. The success of The Big Short book and film added perhaps a few million in book and movie rights, but not enough to push him into the nine-figure club.

Is Michael Burry a billionaire?

  • No. Burry has never been listed on any billionaire index. His fortune, while substantial for an individual investor, is estimated by Wikipedia to be well below $1 billion.
  • The 2008 trade earned him roughly $100 million in personal profit, not enough to reach billionaire status.

The implication: Burry is wealthy but not ultra-wealthy – his influence comes from his track record and contrarian voice, not from a massive personal war chest.

What is Michael Burry doing now?

Burry currently manages Scion Asset Management, a hedge fund that in November 2025 terminated its SEC registration (Open Interest segment). The deregistration means that after the final 13F filing in early November 2025, his holdings are no longer publicly disclosed – a move that some analysts interpret as a desire for privacy or a structural change in his investment approach (YouTube analysis).

Substack activity

  • Burry launched the Substack newsletter Cassandra Unchained in 2023 (Business Insider). He uses it to share market commentary, sometimes directly contradicting popular narratives.
  • In December 2025, he warned that OpenAI could suffer a “Netscape fate” – a reference to the early internet browser that dominated then faded (Business Insider).

Current market views

  • Burry has publicly called the AI boom a bubble and taken a bearish stance on AI-linked stocks (Investing.com analysis).
  • He argued that the market is dangerously concentrated, a view echoed in his warning that the top 10 stocks now own 90% of the S&P 500’s market cap (Business Insider).
Bottom line: Burry is operating largely out of the public eye after deregistering, but his Substack and occasional media interviews show he remains deeply bearish on AI and concentrated market leadership.

Has Michael Burry lost money?

Burry’s investment career includes notable losses alongside his famous wins. After closing Scion Capital in 2010, he returned to managing money in 2013 and made some bets that didn’t pan out. According to Wikipedia, Burry lost money on positions in GameStop and other meme stocks in 2021, though the exact size of those losses is not public. His net worth has fluctuated significantly – from a peak after 2008 to a lower point after his 2010s trades. More recently, his bearish AI trade carries its own risk: if AI stocks continue to rally, the puts could expire worthless.

Investment track record

  • 2008: Massive win – 400%+ return.
  • 2010s: Mixed results; some long bets lost value (Wikipedia).
  • 2021: Reported losses on meme stock short squeezes.
  • 2025: AI short is an active, unresolved bet.

The trade-off: Burry’s high-conviction style means he wins big when right, but loses when early or wrong. His net worth likely remains in the hundreds of millions, but it is far from stable.

Who owns 90% of the stock market today?

Burry has repeatedly pointed out that the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 now account for roughly 90% of the index’s total market capitalization (Business Insider). This extreme concentration means the broader market’s fate is tied to a handful of mega-cap tech companies – a setup Burry calls dangerous.

Burry’s warning about concentration

  • In a 2024 post on X (formerly Twitter), Burry wrote that the top 10 stocks own 90% of the market, a level seen before past crashes.
  • He argues that this concentration makes the market vulnerable to a sharp correction if those stocks falter.
  • Business Insider reported that Burry’s December 2025 comments echoed this concern: he warned that the AI rally had inflated a bubble in the largest names (Business Insider).

What this means: For ordinary investors, Burry’s warning suggests that diversification is more important than ever, because the index itself is concentrated in a few stocks.

What are Michael Burry’s predictions?

Burry’s recent predictions center on the AI sector and the broader economy. In a December 2025 interview with Yahoo Finance, he said the market “feels like a bubble” and predicted a correction in 2026 (Business Insider). He also said OpenAI could follow the path of Netscape – a pioneer that lost its lead and was eventually acquired.

AI stocks and market warnings

  • Burry has called the AI rally “the next big risk trade” (Investing.com).
  • His actual trade: buying put options on Palantir and Nvidia, with a reported notional exposure of over $1 billion – though the premium cost was only about $9.2 million (Investing.com).
  • He wrote on X that his Palantir puts cost $1.84 per share.

Economic forecasts

  • Burry has warned of a recession or market crash in 2026, driven by high valuations and concentration.
  • He advocates for owning physical assets (gold, real estate) and avoiding overvalued tech stocks.

“The market is dancing on the edge of a bubble, and the AI trade is the most crowded trade since the 1990s internet.”

– Michael Burry, via Investing.com

Bottom line: Burry’s core prediction is that the AI boom will end badly, and he has placed a modestly priced bet that stands to profit hugely if that happens. For retail investors, his warning is a reminder to check portfolio concentration.

What is Michael Burry’s portfolio?

The final 13F filing from Scion Asset Management (dated early November 2025) disclosed a portfolio value of $46 million. The major disclosed positions were puts on Palantir (50,000 contracts) and Nvidia (10,000 contracts), with notional values of $912 million and $186.5 million respectively (Investing.com).

Eight key positions, one pattern: the portfolio is overwhelmingly bearish on AI leaders, with a few smaller long holdings in other sectors.

Stock / Asset Position Type Notional Value Source
Palantir (PLTR) Put options (50,000 contracts) $912 million Investing.com
Nvidia (NVDA) Put options (10,000 contracts) $186.5 million Investing.com
Apple (AAPL) Long (shares) Undisclosed (minor) Wikipedia
Amazon (AMZN) Long (shares) Undisclosed (minor) Wikipedia
Mining & energy stocks Long Undisclosed Wikipedia

The pattern is clear: Burry is betting big against AI while holding a few traditional value longs. After deregistration, the market is flying blind on his subsequent moves.

Timeline: Michael Burry’s career milestones

Twelve key dates, one story: a contrarian who keeps returning to the same playbook of betting against the crowd.

  • 2000 – Founds Scion Capital (Wikipedia)
  • 2005 – Begins shorting the housing market (Wikipedia)
  • 2008 – Housing market collapses; Scion returns 400%+ (Wikipedia)
  • 2010 – Closes Scion Capital (Wikipedia)
  • 2013 – Returns to managing money (Wikipedia)
  • 2019 – Starts Scion Asset Management (Wikipedia)
  • 2021 – Warns of meme stock mania; loses on GameStop short (Wikipedia)
  • 2023 – Launches Substack “Cassandra Unchained” (Business Insider)
  • Nov 2025 – SEC deregistration, final 13F filed (Open Interest segment; YouTube analysis)
  • Dec 2025 – Warns of “Netscape fate” for OpenAI (Business Insider)

Certainty and uncertainty

Confirmed facts

  • Michael Burry holds an MD degree from Vanderbilt (Wikipedia)
  • He profited heavily from the 2008 short (Wikipedia)
  • He runs Scion Asset Management (Wikipedia)
  • He writes on Substack (Business Insider)
  • Scion deregistered with SEC in Nov 2025 (Open Interest segment)

What’s unclear

  • Exact current net worth
  • Whether his AI short will be profitable
  • What positions he holds after deregistration
  • His future plans for Scion Asset Management

Quotes from Michael Burry

“I bought my Palantir options for $1.84 per share. The premium cost was about $9.2 million, not $912 million. People confuse notional value with actual investment.”

– Michael Burry, posted on X, reported by Investing.com

“OpenAI could end up like Netscape – a first mover that gets overtaken because it didn’t have a sustainable business model.”

– Michael Burry, in a December 2025 interview, via Business Insider

Why this matters

Burry’s deregistration means the public is blind to his portfolio. For investors who track him, the days of copying his 13F are over. The only window into his thinking now is his Substack and occasional media appearances.

The trade-off

Burry’s AI short is a high-conviction bet with a defined risk (the premium spent) and a huge potential payoff. But if AI stocks keep rallying, the puts expire worthless. For the average investor, betting against the most popular trade of the decade is a risky move.

What this means for investors

Michael Burry remains one of the most closely watched contrarians in the market. His decision to deregister Scion Asset Management in November 2025 underscores his desire to operate outside the spotlight. Yet his actions – the AI puts, the market concentration warnings, the Substack posts – tell a consistent story: he believes the largest stocks are overvalued and that a correction is coming. For the average investor, the implication is clear: review your portfolio’s concentration, consider hedging tail risks, or face the possibility that the market’s top-heavy rally could reverse sharply.

For a closer look at one of his recent moves, see Michael Burrys Salesforce investment and how it fits into his broader contrarian strategy.

Frequently asked questions

What did Michael Burry study in medical school?

Burry earned an MD from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine but chose not to practice. Instead, he pursued investing full-time (Wikipedia).

How much money did Michael Burry make from The Big Short movie?

Reports vary, but Burry likely received a mid-six-figure sum for the rights to his story and a small producer credit – not the millions some assume (Wikipedia).

What is Michael Burry’s Twitter handle?

Burry was active on X (formerly Twitter) @michaeljburry, but he deleted his account in 2021. He now communicates via Substack and occasional media interviews (Business Insider).

Does Michael Burry still short stocks?

Yes. His latest publicly known trade was a short via put options on Palantir and Nvidia (Investing.com).

How does Michael Burry select stocks?

He uses a deep-value, contrarian approach – looking for companies with strong fundamentals that are hated by the market. He famously analyzed mortgage bonds line by line during the 2008 crisis (Wikipedia).

Has Michael Burry written any books?

No, but he has written extensively on Substack (Cassandra Unchained) and in scattered investing forums (Business Insider).

Where does Michael Burry currently live?

Burry resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, though he has kept a low profile in recent years (Wikipedia).