Cornwall Capital
Encyclopedia
Cornwall Capital is a New York City based private financial investment corporation. It was profiled in the book The Big Short
by Michael Lewis
as one of a handful of investors in the world that correctly foresaw and profited from the subprime mortgage crisis
of 2007.
Cornwall Capital was founded in 2003 by then 30-year olds Charles Ledley and James Mai in a garage in Berkeley, CA with $110,000 in capital. Within 2 years they had grown their capital to $15 million by shorting stocks and investing in other companies, worldwide, which they believed were undervalued due to the inability of the market to account for sudden and unexpected change. That is, option prices are set according to past stock performance, and do not take into account unusual or "Black Swan
" events that may occur in the future. By finding potential Black Swan events, they were able to make stunning returns in short periods of time.
Cornwall Capital saw and shorted the subprime mortgage crisis
before most other people saw it. They were one of a few investors who saw and shorted the sub-prime mortgage market prior to the 2007 collapse; according to Michael Lewis
, they were perhaps one out of 20 in the world who did so. This has since gained them attention by way of Michael Lewis
' book The Big Short
(2010) which retells their story. The enterprise was estimated to be worth $200 to $300 million in 2010.
The Big Short
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine is a 2010 non-fiction book by Michael Lewis about the build-up of the housing and credit bubble during the 2000s...
by Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis (author)
Michael Lewis is an American non-fiction author and financial journalist. His bestselling books include The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, Panic and Home Game: An...
as one of a handful of investors in the world that correctly foresaw and profited from the subprime mortgage crisis
Subprime mortgage crisis
The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....
of 2007.
Cornwall Capital was founded in 2003 by then 30-year olds Charles Ledley and James Mai in a garage in Berkeley, CA with $110,000 in capital. Within 2 years they had grown their capital to $15 million by shorting stocks and investing in other companies, worldwide, which they believed were undervalued due to the inability of the market to account for sudden and unexpected change. That is, option prices are set according to past stock performance, and do not take into account unusual or "Black Swan
Black swan theory
The black swan theory or theory of black swan events is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept that The event is a surprise and has a major impact...
" events that may occur in the future. By finding potential Black Swan events, they were able to make stunning returns in short periods of time.
Cornwall Capital saw and shorted the subprime mortgage crisis
Subprime mortgage crisis
The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....
before most other people saw it. They were one of a few investors who saw and shorted the sub-prime mortgage market prior to the 2007 collapse; according to Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis (author)
Michael Lewis is an American non-fiction author and financial journalist. His bestselling books include The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, Panic and Home Game: An...
, they were perhaps one out of 20 in the world who did so. This has since gained them attention by way of Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis (author)
Michael Lewis is an American non-fiction author and financial journalist. His bestselling books include The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, Panic and Home Game: An...
' book The Big Short
The Big Short
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine is a 2010 non-fiction book by Michael Lewis about the build-up of the housing and credit bubble during the 2000s...
(2010) which retells their story. The enterprise was estimated to be worth $200 to $300 million in 2010.
External links
- Cornwall Capital, official website.
- All geek to them: A handful of outsiders come out of the crisis in credit, The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, Mar 18th 2010.