In the recently released film “The Big Short,” actor Christian Bale portrays a brilliant but awkward loner named Michael Burry. Burry was one of the first people in the world to predict the subprime mortgage crisis that sent the U.S. economy reeling starting in 2007.
Based on his own unique analysis, Burry wagered more than $1 billion of his hedge fund’s money against mortgage bonds (or “shorted” them) starting in 2005. Of course he ended up being dead on, and made incredible profits, which is why there's a major Hollywood movie about it.
The true story of Burry, though, has a melancholy side.