Michael Burry is the investor portrayed in Michael Lewis’s book The Big Short and the 2015 film of the same name. Before the 2008 financial crisis, his fund bet against subprime mortgage bonds, and the bet paid off when the housing market collapsed. Since then, almost anything Burry does with his money makes the news.
For most of the past decade, the main public window into his investing has been the quarterly Form 13F filed by his firm, Scion Asset Management. This guide explains what those filings show, why they attract so much attention, and the specific traps in reading them.
What Scion’s 13F shows
Form 13F is a quarterly SEC report required of investment managers with discretion over at least $100 million in certain U.S.-listed securities. It lists long positions at the end of each quarter and is due 45 days later (SEC Form 13F FAQ). Scion files under the name Scion Asset Management, LLC on EDGAR.
A Scion 13F typically shows a short list of stocks, often with heavy turnover from one quarter to the next, plus a few lines labeled PUT or CALL. Those option lines are what usually make headlines.
Burry’s public commentary has mostly come through short, often cryptic social media posts, and he rarely explains individual positions. The 13F is therefore the most concrete record outsiders have, which is part of why it is read so closely.
Why his filings get attention
The mortgage bet gave Burry a reputation as someone willing to bet against the crowd and early enough to be right. His 13Fs have repeatedly shown large put options on single stocks and on market index funds, and a famous skeptic betting against a popular stock is an easy headline. Holdings also change sharply from quarter to quarter, so each filing can look like a new story.
The attention can outrun the facts. Headlines often quote a dollar figure for a put position that is far larger than the money actually at risk. The next section explains why.
How put options appear on a 13F
A put option gives the holder the right to sell a stock at a set price (the strike) before a set date. It gains value when the stock falls. Managers buy puts either to bet on a decline or to protect, or hedge, other holdings.
On a 13F, an option is reported in terms of the shares underlying it, not the option itself. The SEC’s instructions say the entries must be given “in terms of the securities underlying the options, not the options themselves” (Form 13F instructions). In practice, the value column shows roughly the number of underlying shares times the stock price at quarter end. This is called notional value.
What the 13F does not show:
- the strike price or expiration date
- what the manager paid for the option (the premium)
- whether the put is a standalone bet or a hedge against long positions that the form does not cover
- short sales of stock, which are excluded entirely
So “Burry bets $1 billion against X” usually means puts on shares worth about $1 billion at quarter end. The cost could be a small fraction of that.
Reading a Scion filing step by step
- Check the period and filing date. The holdings are as of the last day of the quarter, up to 45 days before you read them.
- Separate stock lines from option lines. Look in the “Put/Call” column.
- Compare with the previous quarter. New names, exits and big share count changes matter more than the full list. Our 13F changes page does this automatically.
- Read any explanatory note. In the first quarter of 2025, Scion’s filing said its Nvidia puts “may serve to hedge long positions” not reportable on a 13F, Investing.com reported. Notes like that change how a put should be read.
- Look for outside statements. If Burry or Scion has said something since quarter end, it may update or contradict the filing.
Common mistakes with Burry headlines
Reading notional value as cash. A headline figure for a put position is almost always notional value. The premium paid is usually a small fraction of it and is not on the form.
Assuming a put is a market call. Scion has itself said that some of its puts may hedge long positions the 13F does not show. A hedge protects other holdings. It is not necessarily a forecast that the stock will fall.
Assuming the position is still open. Options can be sold, exercised or left to expire at any point after the quarter ends. Scion’s filings are a quarter-end snapshot only.
Reading too much into a small portfolio. Scion’s reported portfolio has often been small next to large hedge funds. A few changes can move its percentages sharply, which makes every filing look dramatic.
Treating social posts as filings. Burry’s posts are not SEC documents. They may hint at a view, but they don’t tell you what Scion owns or when it traded.
Scion’s status since late 2025
In November 2025, Burry posted an image showing that Scion Asset Management’s SEC registration as an investment adviser had been terminated, which Investing.com confirmed. The article noted that the move could mean Scion would operate more like a family office. Whether a manager must file a 13F depends on the $100 million test for 13(f) securities, not on adviser registration, so check EDGAR for the latest Scion filing before assuming any 13F is current.
Examples
2021: Tesla puts, then a reversal. Scion’s 13F for the first quarter of 2021 showed puts on 800,100 Tesla shares, worth about $534 million at Tesla’s March 31 closing price, Al Jazeera reported. The strike price, the cost of the puts and whether they were part of a broader trade were not disclosed. In October 2021, asked by CNBC whether he was still short Tesla, Burry replied by email: “No, it was a trade” (Reuters via Fox Business). Readers who acted on the May filing had no way of knowing when the position ended.
2023: index puts worth $1.6 billion on paper. Scion’s second-quarter 2023 13F showed puts on the Invesco QQQ Trust with a notional value of $739 million and on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF with a notional value of $886 million, about $1.6 billion combined, according to The Motley Fool. The article noted that the actual premium paid was much smaller and was not disclosed.
2025: Palantir and Nvidia puts. Scion’s third-quarter 2025 13F, released in early November 2025, showed puts on Nvidia and Palantir along with call options on Halliburton and Pfizer (Investing.com). Reports had put the notional value of the Palantir puts at $912 million. Burry later said he spent about $9.2 million on puts giving the right to sell about 5 million Palantir shares at $50 in 2027 (Investing.com). The gap between $912 million and $9.2 million is the clearest illustration of why notional value is a poor guide to the size of a bet.
Following Scion on WallStPal
- Find Scion Asset Management on funds to see its reported holdings, quarter by quarter, with option lines marked.
- Press Follow on the fund page so new filings appear on your free desk and in the Friday summary.
- Compare with other managers on famous investors.
Before acting on any of it, read how to follow superinvestors, which covers the lag and the risks of copying in more detail.
Where the data comes from
- Scion’s filings: search “Scion Asset Management” on SEC EDGAR
- 13F rules and deadlines: SEC Form 13F FAQ
- How options are reported: Form 13F instructions (PDF)
Explain it like I’m 13
Michael Burry became famous for guessing, years early, that the housing market would crash. Now people watch what he buys and sells.
Four times a year, his firm posts a list of what it owns. Sometimes the list includes “puts.” A put is like insurance that pays if a stock goes down. If you buy insurance on a $1,000 bike, you might pay $50 for it, not $1,000.
The list shows the value of the bike, not the price of the insurance. So when a headline says “Burry bets $900 million against a stock,” he may have paid only a few million for the puts. And the list is weeks old by the time anyone sees it, so he may have already changed his mind.
Questions about this guide? Pal reads it with you and answers in plain English.
WallStPal explains public filings. Nothing here is investment advice. Editorial policy · Corrections