Michael Lewis' bestselling book "The Big Short" was about the men who saw the housing bust coming and had the foresight to short both real estate debt and the financial banks.
What was most fascinating to me from the book was how few people saw it coming. It was really only a handful of men that took action. Those men have now become famous names and investors follow their every move to see where the "smart" money is moving next.
The two biggest names, the "rock stars", to emerge from that period were David Einhorn and John Paulson. Paulson personally took home $4 billion in earnings in 2007.
Einhorn and Paulson now hold gold as the largest position in their hedge funds.
A name that has been relatively quiet since the crisis is Michael Burry, another featured star in "The Big Short." He left the money management business after making his riches, but he has recently returned to the game. Bloomberg sat down with him in the interview below.
His favorite investments? Gold and farmland.
What is he still very nervous about? Real Estate.
