5 Most Successful Short Sellers of All Time

2. David Einhorn

Second on the list of the most successful short sellers of all time is David Einhorn, an American investor, and hedge fund manager. Einhorn founded Greenlight Capital, a long-short-value-oriented hedge fund, in 1996. One of his most famous bets is from July 2007, when he shorted the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. stock under the belief that they have massive exposures to illiquid real estate investments that were not accounted for properly. His highly publicized statement to short Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. revealed that they were also using dubious accounting practices in their financial filings. His word ended up being incredibly accurate, as the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. stock fell sharply, ending first in a $2.8 billion quarterly loss and eventual bankruptcy in 2008. Einhorn himself has become a highly influential investor, with a net worth of $700 million and a fund with around $5.5 billion worth of assets under management in 2018.

David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital