Crashed Big Tech stocks ? From Visionary Bet to Viral Exit: The Enigma of “Dr. Mike”
Michael James Burry—famously portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2015 film The Big Short—is a former hedge fund manager, neurologist-turned-investor, and one of Wall Street’s most polarizing figures. Born in 1971 in San Jose, California, Burry lost his left eye to retinoblastoma as a child and later graduated from UCLA medical school before abandoning a residency in neurology at Stanford to pursue value investing full-time. In 2000, he founded Scion Capital with $1 million in family money and a $600,000 loan, turning it into a $600 million powerhouse by 2008 through contrarian bets against overvalued assets.
Burry’s legend was cemented during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, when he became one of the first investors to short the subprime mortgage market via credit default swaps (CDS). His prescient analysis—detailed in internal emails and later immortalized in Michael Lewis’s book—predicted the housing bubble’s collapse years in advance, earning Scion investors over 489% returns while the S&P 500 tanked 52%. Major banks like Goldman Sachs initially laughed him off, but by 2008, his fund’s profits exceeded $700 million, with Burry personally pocketing $100 million.
Yet, on November 15, 2025, Burry made headlines again—not for a trade, but for a dramatic exit. In a now-deleted X thread that went viral with over 2 million views, he announced he was liquidating his entire portfolio, closing Scion Asset Management, and “rage-quitting Wall Street forever.” His final post read: “The everything bubble is bursting. AI is the new subprime. I’m out.” Within 48 hours, Big Tech stocks—particularly the “Magnificent Seven” (Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, etc.)—plunged 5–12% in a $1.2 trillion market cap wipeout, with traders citing Burry’s warning as the spark. Nasdaq futures dropped 3% pre-market on November 16, and CNBC dubbed it “The Burry Crash.”
Was it singlehanded? No—but his influence was undeniable. With 1.8 million X followers and a cult-like status from The Big Short, Burry’s words move markets. This wasn’t his first exit: He shut Scion in 2008 post-crisis, reopened as Scion Asset Management in 2013, and has since cycled through water investments (2015–2019), GameStop (2020), and now AI skepticism.
The 2025 AI Warning: Why Burry Called the Top
Burry’s rage-quit wasn’t impulsive—it was the culmination of a year-long campaign against what he called “AI subprime 2.0.” In filings and X posts throughout 2025, he argued:
- Overvaluation: Nvidia traded at 85x forward earnings, Microsoft at 42x—levels unseen since the dot-com peak.
- Power Crunch: AI data centers face a 44 GW shortfall by 2028 (Morgan Stanley), with capex unsustainable.
- Hype vs. Revenue: 70% of AI startups show no path to profitability; inference costs exceed revenue for most LLMs.
- Echoes of 2007: “CDOs then, GPUs now—same leverage, different wrapper.”
His final 13F (Q3 2025) revealed massive puts on Nvidia, Microsoft, and the Invesco QQQ ETF—positions worth $1.2 billion at peak. When he announced liquidation, panic selling ensued. Apple fell 8%, Nvidia 12%, and the ARK Innovation ETF (heavy AI) dropped 15% in a day.
The Man Behind the Myth: Quirky Genius or Doomsday Prophet?
Burry is as eccentric as he is brilliant:
- Asperger’s & Obsession: Diagnosed later in life, he credits his condition for hyper-focus—reading 400-page SEC filings nightly.
- Music & Memes: A former drummer, he once posted heavy metal covers on Value Investors Club under the handle “Cassandra.”
- Family First: Lives quietly in Saratoga, CA, with his wife and son; avoids media, communicates via X deletions.
- Past Predictions:
- ✅ 2008 housing crash
- ✅ GameStop short squeeze (2020)
- ❌ Hyperinflation (2010s)
- ❌ Passive investing collapse (2017)
After the Crash: Where Is Burry Now?
As of November 16, 2025, 06:06 PM IST:
- Scion is closed—website down, phone disconnected.
- X account deleted—last backup shows 1.8M followers.
- Portfolio liquidated—per Bloomberg, $2.1B in cash raised.
- Big Tech down $1.2T—Nasdaq -4.8% in 48 hours.
Analysts are split:
- Bulls: “Burry’s wrong again—AI revenue will scale.”
- Bears: “He just front-ran the biggest correction since 2022.”
The Verdict: Not a Market Crasher—But a Market Mover
Michael Burry didn’t singlehandedly crash Big Tech—overvaluation, power shortages, and profit-taking were already brewing. But his exit was the catalyst, the match in a dry forest. Like Paul Revere shouting “The bubble is coming!”, he didn’t cause the revolution—he warned of it.
In a world of AI hype and $3.57 trillion crypto markets, Burry remains the contrarian conscience:
When everyone’s bullish, he’s bearish. When they panic, he’s gone.
And history? It keeps rhyming.