Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management Liquidates Stocks, Shorts NVIDIA, Chinese Tech Amid Trade War Fears

Michael Burry, the renowned hedge fund manager and the inspiration behind the Hollywood movie "The Big Short," made significant adjustments to his portfolio in the first quarter of this year. According to the latest 13F regulatory filing, Burry's Scion Asset Management nearly liquidated all its listed stock holdings and established short positions in NVIDIA (NVDA.US) and Chinese tech stocks ahead of the trade war initiated by then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

Burry, who gained fame for successfully shorting the U.S. housing market in 2008, acquired put options on NVIDIA. The filing notes that these put options "may be used to hedge long positions that do not meet the reporting threshold." This strategic move came at a time when Chinese tech stocks were surging due to breakthroughs in AI by DeepSeek, while concerns over DeepSeek's low-cost AI models caused NVIDIA's stock to plummet. Additionally, investor worries about Trump's impending tariffs on imports from multiple countries exacerbated market volatility.

NVIDIA put options were the largest holding, with 900,000 shares and a market value of $97.54 million. Alibaba put options (BABA.US, PUT) were the second-largest holding, with 200,000 shares and a market value of $26.45 million. Apart from these put options, the firm held only Estee Lauder (EL.US) stocks, with 200,000 shares and a market value of $13.2 million, doubling its holdings from the previous quarter.

It is important to note that the 13F filing only discloses long stock and option holdings, so any potential short hedging positions are not visible. Following the release of the filing, NVIDIA's stock experienced a slight decline in after-hours trading, while Estee Lauder saw a significant surge of nearly 7%.