Great, great biopic by NYMag on Jim Chanos, manager of the world’s largest true short selling hedge fund, up 50% this year on assets of $7 billion.
I’d previously covered his gains in this post, but check out some of these inspiring passages:
Title: The Catastrophe Capitalist
In the bleakest stock market of the past 70 years, when hedge funds and 401(k)s alike have cratered, few people are smiling. But short-seller Jim Chanos, whose fund is up 50 percent, is having the time of his life.
Yeahhhhh thank friggin God short selling is finally getting feature stories, mark this date as it’ll only happen once or twice this decade…
Over martinis at a bar near South Street Seaport, Chanos and a colleague talked about what to do next. Chanos decided to strike out on his own and, with his former boss Levitas, launched Kynikos in 1985 with $16 million. A year later, Levitas burned out, unable to endure the stress of betting against companies and waiting for stocks to decline. “Constitutionally, I couldn’t make a living being short,” he says now. “Jim is able to endure the pain.”
By 1990, Chanos was managing $600 million. But he nearly went bust as the tech bubble pushed the bull market to record highs. Chanos posted losses of 30 percent in 1991, 15 percent in 1992, and 40 percent in 1993. Stocks kept rising, and there were no companies to bet against. By the mid-nineties, Chanos was on the ropes, and his fund was down to less than $150 million from a high of $600 million.
Yes, Jim’s strategy, while very scalable, is also very scary….not for me…or most people; if he were to make instructional short selling DVDs, his customers would probly be bankrupt inside of 1-2 years!
Anyway, it’s not just about tooting his own horn, read the article, it’s worth it.
Posted in Celebrities, Real Wall Streeters