Steve Eisman

Steven Eisman (born July 8, 1962) is an American businessman and investor known for having shorted securitized subprime home mortgages.

Early life and education

Eisman grew up in New York City, where he attended Yeshiva schools. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating magna cum laude in 1984.^[1] He then graduated Harvard Law School with honors.^[2]

FrontPoint Partners

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.

Emrys Partners

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.^[3] 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.^[3][4]

Neuberger Berman

In September 2014, Eisman joined Neuberger Berman as a Managing Director and a Portfolio Manager for the Eisman Group within Neuberger Berman’s Private Asset Management division. The group, run by partners including Steve's parents, Elliott and Lillian Eisman, manages portfolios of stocks for wealthy clients.

Campaign against for-profit colleges

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.^[5] Eisman likened such companies to seedy mortgage brokers. From his presentation:

"Until recently, I thought that there would never again be an opportunity to be involved with an industry as socially destructive and morally bankrupt as the subprime mortgage industry. I was wrong. The for-profit education industry has proven equal to the task."^[6]

After the Department of Education took action against for-profit colleges in 2010, the industry retaliated by accusing Eisman of attempting to illegally influence the government and calling for an investigation by the Secretary of Education. The allegations stem from a meeting that Eisman had with Department of Education officials David Bergeron and Robert Shireman, two weeks before delivering his speech at the Ira Sohn Conference. Shireman was in charge of the department's efforts to toughen regulations on for-profit colleges.^[7]

After offering testimony to Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee on problems with for-profit higher education, Eisman was criticized by progressive groups such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on the grounds that he stood to profit from proposed regulations due to his short positions against private colleges.^[8]

Personal life

He has been married to Valerie Feigen since 1989.^[9] Valerie was also portrayed in The Big Short under the name Cynthia, acted by Marisa Tomei.

References