Steve Eisman
| Steve Eisman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Steven Eisman July 8, 1962 |
| Alma mater |
University of Pennsylvania Harvard University |
| Known for | Betting against subprime mortgages |
Steven "Steve" Eisman (born July 8, 1962) is an American money manager known for having shorted securitized subprime home mortgages.
Eisman grew up in New York City, where he attended Yeshiva schools. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating magna cum laude in 1984. He then graduated Harvard Law School with honors.
Eisman rose to fame betting against subprime mortgages at Greenwich, Connecticut-based FrontPoint Partners LLC, a unit of Morgan Stanley. By 2010, he managed more than US$1 billion for FrontPoint, and gained prominence after being profiled by Michael Lewis in his book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. In the movie adaptation of Lewis' book, The Big Short, Eisman's name was changed to Mark Baum, and was portrayed by Oscar-nominated actor Steve Carell. He left FrontPoint Partners in 2011 amid investor withdrawals following allegations that Joseph F. "Chip" Skowron, a co-manager of the firm’s health-care portfolio, traded on insider information.
In 2012, Eisman founded Emrys Partners with $23 million in seed capital. In July 2014 he announced that he was shutting down the fund, explaining his decision by stating that "making investment decisions by looking solely at the fundamentals of individual companies is no longer a viable investment philosophy." The fund controlled an estimated $185 million in assets at the time of its dissolution. The fund performed poorly in 2012, returning 3.6% and underperforming the market. It did better in 2013, returning 10.8% but still underperforming the market.
Eisman is a strong opponent of for-profit institutions of higher education. During a speech entitled "Subprime Goes to College" during the Ira Sohn Conference in May 2010 Eisman attacked companies that run private colleges such as Think ITT Educational Services, Corinthian Colleges, and Education Management Corporation. Eisman likened such companies to seamy mortgage brokers. From his presentation:
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