Michael Burry’s latest move has been a huge success – but not a stock pick, exactly. Magazine, and it may be earning him millions.
Burry, the famous investor The Big Short2015 film that tells the story of how he predicted the subprime mortgage crisis, he has been writing his Cassandra Unchained newsletter on the Substack platform since November 2025.
You Must Read
Burry revealed in a recent post that he had hit the milestone of 300,000 subscribers (1).
“Less than eight months into this new and intense journey of Cassandra Unchained, I’m amazed and humbled by the unique, and incredibly excited community of amazing people we’ve created at CU,” Burry wrote.
The Internet was quick to focus on another aspect of this historic event, however: how much money Burry could make from his magazine.
Making millions?
In November 2025, Burry deregistered the hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, with the SEC, and launched his newsletter. The magazine was a vehicle to “detail his growing vision of artificial intelligence,” a CNBC report (2) said at the time.
According to StockTwits, Substack quickly gained over 60,000 subscribers, as Burry posted “his first AI-focused articles and intensified his criticism of Nvidia Corp. regarding stock-based compensation, hyperscaler use and computing practices (3).”
He made trade disclosures including bearish positions in Nvidia, Palantir, Applied Materials, iShares Semiconductor ETF and Tesla, StockTwits reports.
When Burry shared the news that he had reached 300,000 subscribers, there was speculation as to how much money the company was making.
Subscriptions to Cassandra Unchained are more expensive at $39 per month, $379 per year, but it also has a free tier, and the number of subscribers includes those who study for free.
Although Substack does not disclose its paid subscriber numbers, Cassandra Unchained has Substack’s purple “Top Seller Badge (4),” which indicates tens of thousands of paid subscribers. It was also ranked number 2 in the Substack finance category (5).
StockTwits noted that, in theory, if all of Burry’s 300,000 subscribers were paid subscribers, it would mean $113.7 million a year, not including any fees paid by Substack.
In its report on Burry’s milestone, The Street (6) was more circumspect, noting that the actual number of subscribers was ‘not widely known’ and ‘little part of a dream.’
However, The Street noted that the income from the newspaper was more stable than his jobs, which “rocked hard.”
“His current holdings of Nvidia and Palantir have gone from loss to success,” The Street noted, while the newsletter “charges on the first day of the month whether the market agrees with him or not.”
Burry’s newspaper report from Fintech Growth Insider from back in December, when the newspaper had gained 120,000 subscribers, noted that if only 5% of those 120,000 paid for the subscription, “they could generate more than 2.8 million dollars a year, about the same amount as $ 3.1 million for the managers. [fees] it is 155$ [million] Scion had management under (takes 2% management fee (7)).”
Read more: Are you paying too much for car insurance? Here are 3 smart ways to reduce your monthly debt
Who is reading?
The Street described the $379 annual subscription as buying “a front-row seat to a brilliant, deep thinker” but cautioned that it didn’t buy a guarantee.
“Burry has been around for years, he’s not bad enough, and he’s been confirmed often enough for everyone to pay attention. Signing up is closer to buying a season ticket than buying a fringe,” said a report from The Street.
Of course, it’s possible that half of Burry’s 300,000-ish subscribers who pay for an advanced subscription are doing it just for fun, not for advice on their portfolios – but it’s unlikely.
It’s also possible that a portion of those paid subscribers aren’t just DIY investors, but actually financial influencers, or potential gurus, themselves.
Maybe they pay a subscription fee to convert and make their own paid comments about Burry’s paid comments. Then other “funders” pay for that content, and repackage it as their own, passing it down the line.
It sounds like an unlikely scenario, though, something out of a Hollywood movie.
You May Love It Again
Join 250,000+ readers and get the best Moneywise news and exclusive interviews first — insightful information handpicked and delivered every week. Register now.
Sources of the article
We rely only on vetted sources and reliable third-party reporting. For details, see ourconduct and guidelines.
Michael Burry (1); CNBC (2); Stocktwits (3); Small stake (4); Small stake (5); Road (6); Fintech Growth Insider (7)
This article first appeared on Moneywise.com under the headline: Michael Burry’s $39-a-month Substack hits 300,000 subscribers, fueling speculation of $113Ma annual newspaper empire.
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. Offered without warranty of any kind.
