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Before the AI Bubble Bursts, 'Big Short' Makes $100 Million from Subscription Fees

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Michael Burry's paid newsletter has been live for 231 days and has surpassed 300,000 subscribers. Based on an annual fee of $379, the theoretical annual revenue is approximately $113.7 million.

Original Title: "Earn $100 Million This Year! Being a 'Big Short' is Not as Good as Being a 'Big V'"
Original Author: Long Yue, Wall Street News

Michael Burry's paid newsletter "Cassandra Unchained" went live for 231 days and surpassed 300,000 subscribers. Based on an annual fee of $379, the theoretical annual revenue is approximately $113.7 million. Meanwhile, the AI and semiconductor stocks he shorted, such as Nvidia, Micron, and Applied Materials, have seen significant gains this year, with Micron surging by 697%, putting pressure on his short positions.

Shorting AI stocks resulted in heavy losses, but selling subscriptions may have been incredibly profitable—Michael Burry's most lucrative business this year may not be stock trading, but writing blog posts.

"Big Short" Michael Burry's Substack subscription investment newsletter "Cassandra Unchained" went live only 231 days ago and crossed the 300,000 subscriber mark. Based on an annual fee of $379, the theoretical annual revenue is approximately $113.7 million.

How significant is this number? According to Stocktwits, if you had invested $1 million in the top 10 stocks with the best performance in the S&P 500 over a year, the total return would be around $34 million—less than a third of Burry's theoretical newsletter revenue.

300,000 Subscribers in 231 Days

In a post titled "Short & Thankful: 300," Burry revealed that "Cassandra Unchained" has reached 300,044 subscribers and 346,680 followers, with subscribers from all 50 U.S. states and 212 countries, of which 52% are outside the U.S.

From the data, "Cassandra Unchained" had around 218,000 followers in January of this year, which had grown to nearly 347,000 by July, showing a continued upward trajectory.

The newsletter is priced at $39 per month or $379 per year, with a free tier also available. Burry did not disclose the specific proportion of paid subscribers, as Substack's subscriber count includes both free and paid readers, and the above calculation does not account for Substack's platform fees. Therefore, the $113.7 million is a theoretical upper limit and not the actual income received.

Burry founded the newsletter in November 2025, shortly after deregistering his hedge fund with the SEC, rejoining social media, and resuming his criticism of the AI frenzy. The newsletter quickly attracted over 60,000 subscribers and evolved into his primary platform for real-time portfolio updates, valuation analyses, and detailed trade records.

Long Value Stocks: PayPal, Lululemon, Alibaba

In the newsletter, Burry continued to disclose specific trades.

In April of this year, he made his first large-scale public position, initiating a position in PayPal Holdings (PYPL) at around $49, representing 3.5% of his portfolio, and listed it as his top pick in the software and payment space, ahead of Fiserv (FISV) and Adobe (ADBE). He then added to his PayPal position near $45 and concurrently bought Fiserv. In the same month, he also initiated positions in Adobe, Autodesk (ADSK), and Veeva Systems (VEEV), stating that "AI disruption panic has depressed software valuations below intrinsic value."

In April, he reiterated his confidence in Molina Healthcare (MOH), stating that the market's expectations "have bottomed out" and indicating he would continue to add to his position as the investment thesis is built on future years of normalized earnings.

In June, Burry shifted his focus to Lululemon Athletica (LULU), adding to his position multiple times. He bluntly stated, "Bad management is the value investor's best friend." He believed that Wall Street was overly focused on management missteps, tariffs, and growth slowdown, while overlooking its long-term value.

Regarding Chinese assets, Burry disclosed in April that he held over a 6% stake in Alibaba and continued to increase his position in JD.com (JD). Last week, he stated that JD.com was one of his top three positions and mentioned that "as the enthusiasm for AI and semiconductor chips wanes, funds will rotate into Hong Kong and China stocks."

Short AI Stocks: NVIDIA, Micron, Palantir

Meanwhile, Burry also continued to expand his short positions in AI and semiconductor stocks.

In April, he disclosed holding additional put options on NVIDIA (NVDA), including a $115 strike price contract expiring in January 2027, while retaining his existing $100 put options. On June 30th, he upgraded the trade to directly short NVIDIA, initiating the position at $198.09. The same update also disclosed new shorts on Applied Materials (AMAT), iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), Tesla (TSLA), and Caterpillar (CAT), with Burry drawing parallels between the current semiconductor boom and the dot-com bubble.

“The direct catalyst for today's surge is the massive spending announced by South Korea. I believe this is the beginning of the end,” Burry said.

Earlier this month, he revealed a direct short position on Micron Technology (MU), noting that the storage chip manufacturer's deviation from the 200-day moving average has exceeded any point since 1984.

On Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Burry has maintained one of Wall Street's most watched short positions since first disclosing the short in November last year. Despite partially closing his position, he reiterated in June that there is still “no sign of seller surrender or exhaustion.”

The Cost of Being a Bear: Market Backlash

However, reality has not been on Burry's side.

Year to date, several of the stocks he has shorted have significantly outperformed the broader market. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up 22% for the year, the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) is up 31%, while Nvidia is up 29%, AMAT has surged 206%, and Micron has skyrocketed 697%.

Shorting these stocks has meant that Burry has incurred significant paper losses on these positions.

That's also why his subscription revenue is particularly notable — while under pressure at the trading level, the alternative business of the “Big Short,” perhaps quietly, is becoming his biggest source of gains this year.