10 Things You Didn’t Know about Michael Burry

Michael Burry is a name that isn’t always associated with something positive. In fact, a lot of people immediately connect his name to the mortgage crisis associated with subprime mortgages that happened a few years ago. Aside from that, people don’t tend to know a lot about him, other than the fact that he’s an investor. In order to better understand him, it is necessary first to learn more about him. You can do that here by reading through these 10 interesting points about Michael Burry.

1. He has vision in only one eye

He had a disease that cost him the vision in his left eye at the tender age of two. It was a type of cancer known as retinoblastoma. Despite the best efforts of doctors to try and get ahead of the disease before he lost his sight, there was nothing they could do. Eventually, they had no choice but to remove his left eye and replace it with an artificial one. Since it happened to him at such a young age, it’s something that he has largely learned to deal with, arguably better than most people would if it had happened to them as an adult. After all, he has spent the majority of his life seeing out of only one eye, so his brain has largely adjusted to this particular issue.

2. He’s also a medical doctor

As a direct result of the things that he went through with his cancer diagnosis, he decided early on that he wanted to become a medical doctor. He attended medical school and graduated, receiving his physician’s license through the state of California.

3. He never finished his residency

Despite the fact that he went to medical school and became a licensed physician, he never completed his residency. As a matter of fact, he completed the first half of his residency and then was right in the middle of the second part of it when he decided to leave in lieu of a career in finance. It was something of a last minute change, at least for those on the outside looking in. As far as his part in the matter was concerned, it was something he had been struggling with almost since day one.

4. He used to consider investing his hobby

Even when he was in medical school, he considered investing to be his hobby. At the time, he would even post investing advice on whiteboards for other students, something that he continued to do as he was completing his residency. Most people wondered how he could find time to investigate so much information about different investments when the overwhelming majority of people completing their own residencies were doing their best just to keep up with the curriculum and grab a couple of hours of sleep. Somehow, he not only managed to pull it off, but he made a name for himself in the process.

5. He maintained his medical license for years

Even though he didn’t complete his medical residency and never practiced as a medical doctor, he has maintained his license as a physician with the state of California all these years. For him, it represents years of hard work and dedication, something that he isn’t willing to let go of.

6. He blames the government for what happened in during the mortgage crisis

He became very angry when the subprime mortgage crisis hit, largely because he took a big hit in the process. Not only did his finances take a hit, but he became associated with this crisis and almost became painted a villain in mainstream media. He was quick to go on the defensive, saying that the government had refused to listen to people who were on the outside looking in, telling them that this crisis was coming. He says that if they had taken action when they were warned about it, it never would have happened in the first place. For his part in the debacle, he took absolutely no responsibility whatsoever. According to him, all the responsibility falls on the government and the people who lost their homes (and everything else) in the crisis.

7. He liquidated his company and then restarted it later

As a direct result of the mortgage crisis, he liquidated all the assets in his company and then dissolved it. He said at the time that he wanted to focus on his own personal finances. However, the dust had barely settled before he restarted the company under a similar name, offering much of the same financial advice that he had offered before.

8. He didn’t agree with the lockdowns due to COVID-19

He was quite vocal when the lockdowns started due to COVID-19, saying that no one had a right to force anyone into lockdown. He even went as far as saying that it was a criminal act. As far as he was concerned, no one should have been forced to self-quarantine, despite the fact that there was a virus causing concern throughout the global population that doctors were unsure how to handle. As far as he was concerned, people should have been allowed to roam as they wished and take their chances, allowing the chips to fall where they may.

9. He says that when he looks at people, he isn’t actually listening to them

He claims that when he looks people in the eye, he’s not ever listening to them. In fact, he says that when he’s not looking at people, he has a general tendency to listen to what they say but when he actually starts making eye contact, he loses all focus and stops paying attention to anything they tell him. According to him, he’s done this throughout his entire life.

10. He has a son with Asperger syndrome

He has a son who has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Since that time, he has started to claim that he believes he has the disorder as well, although this has been self-diagnosed. He also attributes his inability to listen to people when he looks at them to the disorder.