Michael Burry's newsletter tops 300,000 subscribers, with potential earnings of up to $113m a year

Michael Burry, the Wall Street investor who inspired the film "The Big Short," has surpassed 300,000 subscribers on his newsletter, prompting estimates that he could earn as much as $113 million a year from the venture.

According to Moneywise, a US financial media outlet, Burry announced that his newsletter "Cassandra Unchained," published through the Substack platform, crossed 300,000 subscribers 231 days after its launch.

"It has been less than eight months since we embarked on this new and intense adventure called Cassandra Unchained," Burry said. "I am amazed and humbled by the unique and truly enjoyable community we have built together."

Burry launched the newsletter after shutting down his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, last November. He said professional asset management made it difficult to communicate freely with investors due to various regulations, and that the process sometimes caused market disruptions he had not intended.

The newsletter, which focuses on stock market analysis and investment ideas, has rapidly grown its subscriber base on Substack and emerged as the platform's fastest-growing channel in the finance category. "Cassandra Unchained" currently ranks second on Substack's bestseller list.

The newsletter charges $39 a month, or $379 a year, with a free subscription option also available. Moneywise estimated that if all 300,000 subscribers were paying annually, Burry could generate roughly $113.7 million in subscription revenue per year, even after platform fees.

Some analysts, however, say the actual number of paid subscribers is only a fraction of the total, and that projections of hundreds of billions of won are greatly exaggerated.

The newsletter does display a purple badge — awarded to Substack channels with tens of thousands or more paid subscribers — suggesting Burry has secured a substantial paying readership.

A report from last December, when the newsletter had 120,000 subscribers, found that even if just 5 percent chose a paid subscription, Burry could earn more than $2.8 million a year. That figure is roughly equivalent to the $3.1 million in annual management fees Scion Asset Management could have generated.

Some analysts also note that while returns from stock investments are subject to wide volatility depending on market conditions, newsletter subscription fees provide a stable monthly income stream, making the model an attractive revenue source.

TheStreet said that "a reputation built once becomes an asset that generates monthly income," adding that "even a modest increase in the paid conversion rate can match past fund management fees — and Burry is free from investor redemptions and regulatory burdens."