The Greatest Trades of All Time: Top Traders Making Big Profits from the Crash of 1929 to Today

CHAPTER 1

J. Kyle Bass: Timing Is Everything

Out of all the legendary men in this book, perhaps the least known is J. Kyle Bass. A hedge fund manager from Dallas, Texas, Kyle is a young, energetic and brilliant man who is not exactly of the Harvard Business School pedigree. Educated at Texas Christian University, the elusive Bass is one to be reckoned with. He is famous for shorting the subprime mortgage crisis that enveloped our country late in the first decade of the 2000s.

But don't be fooled. The man is as shrewd as hedge funders come. Bass saw the crisis coming back in early 2006, when the stock market was peaking and everything was still fine and dandy. Only 36 years old at the time, Bass was one of the youngest managers in the business to spot the crisis coming and to actually place a large bet on it.

THE BACK STORY

Bass started his career as a retail securities broker at Prudential Securities before moving on to Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. and later to Legg Mason, Inc., where he stayed until January 1, 2006. While Bass had plenty of success working for Wall Street firms, in December 2005 he decided it was time to strike out on his own.

Starting your own hedge fund is a daunting task that requires intense preparation. And then there is the capital—who is going to give you capital if no one's heard of you? You are just another face in the crowd.

Bass, not just any regular face in the crowd, was able to raise an adequate amount of money for his new fund, Hayman Capital. The ...