did michael burry sell all his stocks

As of May–July 2025, Scion Asset Management’s Q1 2025 13F showed the firm sold nearly all long equity positions, kept or increased Estée Lauder, and opened large put-option bets on Nvidia and sever...

2026-01-14 07:40:00

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did michael burry sell all his stocks?

As of May–July 2025, questions surged: did michael burry sell all his stocks? The short answer: Scion Asset Management (Michael Burry’s firm) reported in its Q1 2025 Form 13F that it liquidated nearly all long equity holdings as of March 31, 2025, retained and in some reports increased a single major long (Estée Lauder), and—based on media analysis of filings and options reporting—took large put-option positions on Nvidia and several Chinese technology companies. These public records reflect holdings at quarter-end and do not show intraday trades, many derivatives, or private transactions.

Background

Michael Burry is a U.S. investor best known for betting against subprime mortgages before the 2008 financial crisis—a theme popularized by the book and film The Big Short. He runs Scion Asset Management, a relatively small, value-oriented hedge fund noted for concentrated, contrarian bets. Because of his reputation and track record, Burry’s portfolio moves attract outsized media and investor attention: readers and markets look to his filings for signals about valuation, risk, and potential trends.

Public filings and how they report trades

Form 13F is a quarterly SEC filing that institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in qualifying assets must submit. It reports long equity and equity-option positions the manager held at the quarter’s end (typically March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31), listing holdings by issuer and number of shares or option contracts. Important limitations:

13F shows only long equity positions and some long options; it does not show short positions, cash, many types of derivatives (especially custom OTC instruments), or intraday trading that occurred before quarter end.
Options are reported differently and can be harder to interpret; put-option exposure may not appear in full dollar terms on 13F and often must be inferred from other disclosures or market reporting.
Filings are a snapshot as of the quarter-end and are usually released in mid-May for Q1, mid-August for Q2, and so on.

Because of these constraints, press summaries and third-party trackers (Dataroma, Nasdaq commentary, media outlets) combine 13F data with additional reporting to infer hedging or directional option exposure.

The Q1 2025 liquidation (reported action)

Summary of the Q1 2025 13F

As of the Q1 2025 quarter-end (March 31, 2025), Scion’s Form 13F disclosed that the firm held only a few long equity positions compared with prior quarters. Multiple financial outlets reported that Scion had sold the bulk of its long equity holdings in the March quarter and appeared to have dramatically reduced long exposure going into the filing date. Reporters and data aggregators noted that the portfolio shift was unusually large for Scion in scale and concentration.

As of May 2025, the 13F-based snapshot became public and was covered widely. For example, on May 19, 2025, The Motley Fool and IBTimes UK published summaries noting that Scion’s reported long equity positions were largely eliminated, while media estimates and follow-up reporting suggested substantial put-option activity occurring around the same time.

Stocks sold (examples)

Media coverage and 13F line-item comparisons identified a long list of previously held names that were absent or reduced in the Q1 2025 filing. Examples frequently cited by contemporaneous reporting include:

Alibaba (BABA)
Baidu (BIDU)
JD.com (JD)
PDD Holdings (PDD)
Molina Healthcare (MOH)
HCA Healthcare (HCA)
Bruker (BRKR)
VF Corporation (VFC)
Canada Goose (GOOS)

These examples reflect positions that appeared in prior Scion filings and were materially reduced or removed from the Q1 2025 13F. Exact shares sold and realized proceeds are not shown on Form 13F; the filing only shows absence or presence and holdings as of March 31, 2025. As of May 19, 2025, multiple outlets listed these names when reporting the liquidation.

Remaining / increased long position: Estée Lauder

While most long equity positions disappeared from the Q1 2025 13F, Estée Lauder Companies (EL) stood out as a retained—or per some reports, increased—position. Several media outlets noted that Estée Lauder was the dominant long in Scion’s reported portfolio at quarter-end. That made Estée Lauder effectively the single large long disclosed in the publicly available filing.

Put-option and bearish positions

Concurrent with the 13F disclosures, media reports in May and July 2025 highlighted large put-option purchases or other bearish derivative exposures linked to Scion. The most-followed mentions included put-option activity on Nvidia and several Chinese technology companies. Press estimates of the notional or dollar amounts of these puts varied by outlet:

As of May 19, 2025, IBTimes UK and The Motley Fool reported that Scion placed substantial put bets, with ranges reported by different outlets.
As of July 18, 2025, Capital.com ran a feature titled “Why Michael Burry just sold all his stocks” that reiterated the liquidation and the associated put exposure reported by media trackers.

Some outlets summarized media-estimated put exposure in the roughly $150–$186 million range; these estimates combine analysis of filings, options-monitoring services, and press sources. Important to stress: Form 13F does not directly disclose many of these put-dollar estimates, and media figures represent analysis and inference rather than a single definitive SEC line item.

Potential interpretations of the put activity:

Hedging: Large put purchases can act as portfolio insurance against a market downturn.
Directional short: If the put exposure is sized to be economically meaningful, it may reflect a directional bearish bet on the named securities or sectors.
Event-driven protection: Puts can protect against single-stock or regional risk (for example, a China-tech shock) even while preserving limited long exposure.

Because options can be used for both hedging and speculative purposes, interpreting the motive requires care—13F snapshots and media estimates do not capture Burry’s stated rationale.

Reported rationales and analyst interpretations

Media coverage and market commentators offered several possible reasons for Scion’s reported moves. Common interpretations across sources included:

Valuation concerns: Some analysts suggested Burry saw extended valuations—especially in AI/semiconductor-related names like Nvidia—and used puts to express caution.
China exposure reduction: Liquidation of many China-related equities (Alibaba, JD, Baidu, PDD) was interpreted as reducing exposure to regulatory and macro risks tied to China.
Macro hedging: Rising macro uncertainty (inflation, rates, growth deceleration) led some observers to view the moves as a defensive repositioning.
Concentration/rotation: Given Scion’s history of concentrated positions, the near-total exit of longs and concentration into Estée Lauder could reflect tactical redeployment of capital.

Crucially, Burry and Scion did not publish a comprehensive public narrative tying these items together; most public interpretation stems from the filings themselves and expert commentary in outlets such as The Motley Fool (May 19, 2025), IBTimes UK (May 19, 2025), and Capital.com (July 18, 2025). As of the reporting dates, there was no single public statement from Burry that fully explained the reasoning behind the Q1 moves.

Market and media reaction

The Q1 2025 filing and associated reports prompted broad media coverage and social-media discussion. Key reactions included:

News coverage: Major financial sites and investment newsletters picked up the story, summarizing both the liquidation of longs and the reported put positions.
Stock moves: Named securities sometimes experienced increased volatility after the reports, particularly those linked to Burry’s reported option exposure (e.g., Nvidia, large Chinese tech names). Exact price impacts varied by day and by source.
Investor attention: Retail and institutional investors monitored the filing for signals about value opportunities and systemic risk; discussion threads and video summaries (e.g., Capital.com and NewMoney videos) amplified the narrative.

Reporters also noted the timing: because 13F filings reflect quarter-end positions, markets may have already moved since the manager made intraday trades that the filing does not show. This timing mismatch can cause headlines to appear as if a manager is acting in reaction to events that followed the actual trade.

Subsequent portfolio activity and updates

After the Q1 2025 disclosure, later filings in Q2 and Q3 2025 were tracked by Dataroma, Nasdaq commentary, and other monitoring services. Those later filings and public reporting showed additional repositioning by Scion in some quarters—examples included partial re-entry into some names or new purchases not present in Q1. This underscores the point that a 13F snapshot documents only a moment in time and that managers can and do change exposures between filings.

As of July 18, 2025, Capital.com and other outlets summarized the initial Q1 liquidation and noted that subsequent quarters could reflect different tactics. Readers should watch future Scion filings to see whether the Q1 pattern represented a durable strategic shift or a tactical, time-limited posture.

Accuracy, limitations and caveats

When asking did michael burry sell all his stocks, it is essential to weigh what the filings and reports actually show:

13F is not a complete ledger: It omits short positions, many derivatives, cash, and intra-quarter trades. Saying a manager “sold all stocks” based on 13F means “no long equity positions reported at quarter-end” rather than a real-time account of every trade.
Options and puts are often estimated: Media-reported dollar figures for put exposure are typically estimates based on option-tracking services and partial disclosures; they are not always directly reported in full dollar terms on 13F.
Timing matters: Trades may have occurred weeks before or after the quarter-end; some activity reported in later filings or regulatory schedules may alter the narrative.
Public statements: Unless the manager issues an explanatory letter or an interview, motives inferred from filings are hypotheses rather than confirmed strategy statements.

For readers, the responsible interpretation is to treat filings and press coverage as informative but incomplete. Always check subsequent SEC filings for updated position data.

Historical parallels and context

Michael Burry’s portfolio behavior in Q1 2025 has parallels with his historical pattern of concentrated, sometimes dramatic repositioning. Notable context points:

2008: Burry gained widespread attention for shorting the subprime mortgage market—an instance of a contrarian, high-conviction trade.
Prior filings: Burry has previously reduced long exposure sharply in other periods (for example, past filings in 2022 and 2024 showed material shifts in holdings), later redeploying capital into new positions.

These precedents highlight that Scion’s near-liquidation of long equity positions in Q1 2025—followed potentially by derivative hedging—fits a known pattern of tactical, conviction-driven repositioning rather than necessarily representing a permanent exit from equities.

References

As of May 19, 2025, The Motley Fool reported on Scion’s Q1 2025 filing and noted the near-dump of the portfolio and put activity. (The Motley Fool, 2025-05-19.)
As of May 19, 2025, IBTimes UK summarized the Q1 2025 filing: Scion sold most holdings in the quarter and placed estimated large put contracts (IBTimes UK, 2025-05-19).
As of July 18, 2025, Capital.com published an analysis headlined “Why Michael Burry just sold all his stocks,” reviewing the Q1 filing and subsequent reporting (Capital.com, 2025-07-18).
Dataroma’s Scion portfolio pages provide historical position listings and quarter-to-quarter comparisons; reporters used Dataroma to track which tickers disappeared from the Q1 2025 13F (Dataroma, Q1–Q3 2025 tracking).
Multiple video summaries (Capital.com / NewMoney) in May–July 2025 provided concise recaps and timelines of the filings and press in that period.
SEC Form 13F for Q1 2025 for Scion Asset Management (filed mid-May 2025; covers positions as of March 31, 2025). The 13F is the primary public source for reported long equity holdings at quarter-end.

Note on sourcing and numbers: media outlets provided estimated dollar values for put exposure (ranges frequently cited from roughly $150M to $186M). Those dollar estimates are media analyses and not directly reported as single-line items on Form 13F; readers should treat them as press estimates.

Practical guidance for readers

If you saw headlines and asked did michael burry sell all his stocks, remember that the 13F snapshot documents holdings at quarter-end rather than every trade made.
To follow Scion’s positions over time, monitor the sequence of Form 13F filings (quarterly) and trusted aggregator pages (e.g., Dataroma) for line-item changes.
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This article does not offer investment advice. It summarizes public filings and press coverage to answer the factual question: did michael burry sell all his stocks? The filings show a near-total reduction in long equity holdings at the Q1 2025 quarter-end, retention of Estée Lauder as a primary long, and media-reported large put-option exposure on Nvidia and several Chinese tech names.

Disclosure and caveats

All statements are based on public filings and contemporaneous media reporting as of May–July 2025. Specific reporting dates cited above: May 19, 2025 (The Motley Fool, IBTimes UK) and July 18, 2025 (Capital.com). Dataroma and SEC 13F filings were used to track holdings and quarter-to-quarter changes.
This summary is informational only and not investment advice. It avoids speculative claims about Burry’s intent; media interpretations are noted as such.

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