Michael Burry’s paid newsletter, "Cassandra Unchained," surpassed 300,000 subscribers after 231 days on launch; at an annual fee of $379, the theoretical annual revenue is approximately $113.7 million. Meanwhile, the AI and semiconductor stocks he shorted—NVIDIA, Micron, and AMAT—have surged significantly this year, with Micron rising as much as 697% year-to-date, placing considerable pressure on his short positions.
Shorting AI stocks led to heavy losses, but selling subscriptions could bring huge profits—Michael Burry’s most profitable venture this year may not be stock trading, but blogging.
Michael Burry, known as "The Big Short," has reached over 300,000 subscribers for his Substack investment newsletter, "Cassandra Unchained," in just 231 days. At an annual fee of $379, the theoretical annual revenue is approximately $113.7 million.
How intuitive is this number? According to Stocktwits, if $1 million were invested equally in the top 10 best-performing stocks within the S&P 500, the total return would be approximately $34 million—still less than one-third of Burry’s communication theory income.
300,000 subscribers, 231 days
In a post titled "Short & Thankful: 300," Burry disclosed that "Cassandra Unchained" has reached 300,044 subscribers and 346,680 followers, with subscribers from all 50 U.S. states and 212 countries, 52% of whom are outside the United States.
According to the data, the "Cassandra Unchained" newsletter had approximately 218,000 followers in January and grew to nearly 347,000 by July, with a consistently upward trend.
The newsletter is priced at $39 per month or $379 per year, with a free tier available. Burry did not disclose the exact proportion of paid subscribers; Substack's subscriber counts include both free and paid readers, and the above calculation does not account for Substack's platform fee. Therefore, $113.7 million represents a theoretical upper limit, not actual take-home revenue.
Burry launched this newsletter in November 2025, shortly after deregistering his hedge fund with the SEC, returning to social media, and reigniting his criticism of the AI hype. The newsletter immediately attracted over 60,000 subscribers and has since evolved into his primary platform for sharing real-time portfolio updates, valuation analyses, and detailed trade records.
Buy undervalued stocks: PayPal, Lululemon, Alibaba
In communications, Burry continued to disclose specific trades.
In April, he made his first large-scale public position, initiating a 3.5% stake in PayPal Holdings (PYPL) at approximately $49, naming it his top pick in the software and payments sector over Fiserv (FI) and Adobe (ADBE). He subsequently added to his PayPal position near $45 and simultaneously bought Fiserv. That same month, he also initiated positions in Adobe, Autodesk (ADSK), and Veeva Systems (VEEV), citing that “fear of AI disruption has pushed software valuations below intrinsic value.”
In April, he reaffirmed his confidence in Molina Healthcare (MOH), stating that market expectations had "hit rock bottom" and that he would continue to increase his position, as the investment thesis is based on normalized earnings over the coming years.
In June, Burry turned his attention to Lululemon Athletica (LULU), increasing his position multiple times. He stated outright, “Poor management is the value investor’s best friend.” He believes Wall Street has overly focused on management missteps, tariffs, and slowing growth, while overlooking its long-term value.
Regarding Chinese assets, Burry disclosed in April that he held over 6% of Alibaba and has continued to increase his position in JD.com. Last week, he stated that JD.com is one of his top three holdings, adding, "As enthusiasm for AI and storage chips fades, capital will rotate into Hong Kong and Chinese stocks."
Short AI stocks: NVIDIA, Micron, Palantir
Meanwhile, Burry has also been continuously increasing his short positions in AI and semiconductor stocks.
In April, he disclosed additional put options on NVIDIA (NVDA), including 115-strike contracts expiring in January 2027, while retaining his previous 100-strike put options. On June 30, he upgraded his position to a direct short on NVIDIA, entering at $198.09. The same update revealed new short positions in Applied Materials (AMAT), the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), Tesla (TSLA), and Caterpillar (CAT), comparing the current semiconductor boom to the dot-com bubble.
“The immediate trigger for today’s rally was South Korea’s announcement of massive spending. I think this is the beginning of the end,” Burry said.
Earlier this month, he disclosed a direct short position in Micron Technology (MU), stating that the company's deviation from its 200-day moving average has exceeded any level since 1984.
On Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Burry has maintained one of Wall Street’s most closely watched short positions since first disclosing it in November last year. Although he partially closed the position, he reaffirmed in June that “there are no signs of short seller capitulation or exhaustion.”
The cost of short selling: Getting shut down by the market
However, reality is not on Burry's side.
This year, several stocks he shorted have significantly outperformed the broader market. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) has risen 22% year to date, the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) has gained 31%, NVIDIA has increased 29%, AMAT has surged 206%, and Micron has skyrocketed 697%.
Shorting these stocks means Burry incurred significant paper losses on these positions.
This is precisely why his communication income stands out so prominently—while trading activities face pressure, his other business as the "Big Short" may be quietly becoming his largest source of income this year.