The Big Short Michael Lewis Missed (w/ Raoul Pal and Jeff Greene)

Billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene built his fortune with a lifetime of hustle and no partners. In this interview with Raoul Pal, Greene explains how he transformed himself from a traveling circus ticket salesman to an investment titan putting on billion-dollar credit default swap trades. What began as a hedge turned into the trade of a lifetime when Greene astutely observed that shorting mortgage backed securities was a no-doubter in his first foray with derivatives. Greene also touches on his unique career path, his market outlook for a handful of asset classes, and the philanthropic endeavors that now dominate his focus. Filmed on January 23, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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The Big Short Billionaire Michael Lewis Missed (w/ Raoul Pal and Jeff Greene)
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[@hexadecimal5236]

It's real easy to say everything will be ok when you're sitting on a hundred million, I've been a Libertarian my entire life, but TBH, if the Socialists marched on the banks and hung the CEOs by their necks in front of each one, I wouldn't lose any sleep, and the Gold Collars of most major corporations in all likelihood need to rcv the exact same thing. They negotiated contracts where they make millions even when both stock and stakeholders lose everything. From what we saw with the banking bailouta twice, the govt obviously can no longer be trusted to regulate markets, the regulatory agencies have been completely captured.

[@thomaskauser8978]

I am for folding the federal reserve into social security and calling two wrongs a all right (ism)

[@dawidw.6016]

Was Really interesting to a point when he said he doesn't need gold :-)

[@Michael-qy1jz]

This guy had some serious inside info.

[@j.s.1869]

Real Vision Finance 29:26 onwards is 👍 great. Thank you RVF!

[@texasRoofDoctor]

Great interview with guy who succeeded by working hard, taking risks, being lucky. All the sub geniuses who think "muh, he is a boomer so it was handed to him" need to go back to their video game in grandmas basement. Yes, the economy is tough right now for many and yes, it was also tough in the 80's when he started. He provides a great blueprint for success. The last 10 minutes are a great assessment of the US.

[@texasRoofDoctor]

@James Zell we are probably past our peak but no one is close to passing us. Listen to Peter Zeihan video. Geography, demographics, and like Mr. Greene said: the US Constitution just keeps promoting success. Only internal strife will finally topple us.

[@unknowndriver6652]

You dont get billioner just by luck

[@1112-g1x]

@@unknowndriver6652 he bought property? when it was affordable, and asset price inflation did the rest? gud on him but hardly genius

[@happytrees4734]

Correct. The right timing, not “luck” is how most billionaires are made.

[@KP-dd2ci]

Who else loves the "Ooooiiiiiiiii" at the beginning??

[@rdnylj]

Great interview. It would be great to hear what he thinks since COVID hit. Please have him back!

[@stevenoconnell6297]

Quite the talker and story teller and my what a story his life has been. Seems like this guy could make gold out of air. That being said what he had to offer on the future of the average of the population I.e. wealth gap, opportunity, education even etc, was nothing short of disappointment. I appreciate Raoul for trying to bring the conversation around to the best interest of the average person and the true dilemmas of our time but the fact that he had little to offer not only on behalf of himself but seemingly on behalf of other figures of significance in the wealthiest class was discouraging. I found it dismissive. Still a fascinating life story and interesting conversation. I’m sure he appreciated your company as it seems like it’s been a while since he’s had a chance to talk with someone since he is definitely not short on words.

[@richardb9017]

Yep, toss a coin 20 times and one person in every million will get heads 20 times..... Then they'll write a book and tell you how you can too ! Luck is without doubt s factor. Call it statistical probability if you like, I call it what it is. Obviously hard work is generally required , but luck gets you over the line

[@savagesteve5894]

I enjoyed his entrepreneurial story right up until the point where he bet against his crony Harvard banking buddies and their reckless casino-like sports betting enterprise. Congratulations sir your billions was no less than a simple transfer of faux-mega wealth using Casino style capitalism. Glad your country club pals all convinced Henry Paulson at the Fed to throw a couple TARP's over the dead bodies. How's that 100M tax dodge tan in sunny Florida going?

[@bolesfamily1744]

Great interview

[@sommi888]

🧡💛💚💙 Great stuff Raoul 🧡💛💚💙

[@johnbailey3351]

Great interview, but Apple? Its share price is being propped up share repurchases and its primary recent profit growth was the 2017 tax cut! For 2015 its annual revenues #233.7 billion and for 2019 its revenues were $260.2 Billion. That is a 2.7% growth rate. Not much growth, especially if you back out inflation. Back out inflation and population growth it is probably loosing market share. In 2017 its pretax profits were $72.5 Billion and in 2019 its pre-tax profits were $65.7 Billion. Now its tax expense has been reduced from $19.1 Billion to $10.5 Billion, so all of its meager earnings growth came from the tax cut! Its EPS was $11.97 in 2019 versus $9.28 in 2015, but the EPS growth is 90% driven by buybacks with the other 10% being the tax cut. So Apple is a trillion dollar company whose dominant product is losing market share while losing profit margin, it sells at 25x, yields under 1% and it has China problems. To each his own, but I would sell.

[@fadfaasfsafsasaf8235]

How did that short work out for ya?

[@johnbailey3351]

@@fadfaasfsafsasaf8235 Didn't short, but Apple has appreciated 13.2% versus the S&P 500 rise of 28.2% over the last year, so Apple has underperformed the broad market. How do you think it would have done in a bear market?

[@simona4315]

He's in The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zu Kerman. John Paulson apparently felt betrayed by Jeff...

[@davidalston3626]

Simon A Paulson was sharing the trade before he was set up to do the trade!

[@davidlong4000]

Great interview! One of your best! Thank you!

[@maxcapital8570]

Great interview 👍 Ral love your clothes ,were do you shop?

[@suckers0]

Thrift shops? Albeit on the Cayman Islands :-)

[@wzeng02]

It will be great to have a follow up interview with Jeff and see his views on real estate market.

[@KillaDukeBadMan]

"Cash is trash" new I would hear that this interview lol

[@thecloudtechguy]

Interesting interview. I dont really believe everyone is making more money... Plus I think he missed the point on Education is a factor but Parenting is actually the real problem in the country.

[@rokyericksonroks]

People are making more money. It’s hard to tell because money has lost its value because rates are suppressed. Raise rates and restore purchasing power, but poor Joe Sixpack has been convinced that low rates are helpful, when in fact they are harmful to the low wage earner.

[@keithsorlie9798]

Love to hear an update from this man. Excellent

[@adamdahl3080]

so much knowledge and wisdom for free...Thank you Real Vision!

[@dianatran7220]

Great interview !!

[@rjlane3475]

more proof that naivete can also be one's super power ...

[@vernefits1953]

Awesome guest

[@tanyakruyt5122]

That was great, thanks! :)

[@barrycalvert8219]

These comments are identical to those in 2006. . Never been this bad, inequality, education, blah blah... wash, rinse, repeat

[@dare2race]

3 hot chicks walk into a party... on a boat, with a dj, it was Tyson's bday. Sounds like a great time!

[@jmc8076]

dare2race All that glitters isn’t gold.

[@deathlarsen7502]

yeah and look at what he married with all his money. he's no looker neither

[@davidoconnor1773]

I really hope this guy listens to the pros in the comments here so that he can finally start to make some REAL money!!

[@rd9102]

The ONLY way to "fix" the rich/poor divide is to educate the poor. The entire gap can be improved if the "poor" or even the middle class learns that their daily latte is in fact hurting them A LOT more then just the coffee and sugar.

[@unknowndriver6652]

What?

[@rd9102]

@@unknowndriver6652 What what?

[@rd9102]

@TheCanMan Can Since 1990 Is this supposed to be separate thoughts? It's a run on sentence. Did you mean Destroying the fire sector is the only way, enough feeding this nonsense delusion of yours? What is the fire sector? Is that some code word? Do you mean there are too many fires out there? Please make your thoughts fully coherent so we can have a proper discussion about how terrible educating people is.

[@rd9102]

@TheCanMan Can Since 1990 Is English your second language? I am having a hard time understanding what you are trying to say. I am not trying to make fun of you, what you write makes no sense.

[@rokyericksonroks]

R D The FIRE sector refers to the part of an economy made up of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. Some people feel like these are places that produce very little of real value yet lots of millionaires seem to emerge from the FIRE sector. The term got co-opted by the Financial Independence Retire Early folks, so some confusion is expected.

[@Theo-dj7vs]

First 17:12 is a waste of time, unless you believe hearing a billionaire speak is going to make you money...

[@rw20000]

"as it turns out the market was SO undervalued"

[@marine5546]

That reality is almost unfathomable right now

[@odhran8825]

@@marine5546 You guys had no idea what crazy confusing times were ahead haha

[@rainmaker704]

Great vid!

[@rainmaker704]

Seems like a really great person.

[@eclecticinvestor]

A bull who gets the issue and just doesn't believe it.

[@LesGrossman69]

Able to work, go to Harvard, save up $100k (in 1970 dollars), buy multiplexes for dirt, buy LA real estate for dirt and become a billionaire. OK, BOOMER.

[@LesGrossman69]

@Tarzan I'm 27, I make more than 90% of the people my age from working in two different industries and I live frugally without student debt. The opportunities this guy had are essentially impossible today and his success was mostly based on circumstance of the times that all of the Boomer generation had access to and got benefits from. That is the only thing to note here. Boomers are the cancer inside our society. They are also all fueled by greed. You must be a Boomer because you took my post personally, all while the millenials are the ones deemed as snowflakes.

[@phillipgeorge8147]

Cryptocurrencies are the opportunity of our times. There are plenty of opportunities today that you can utilise like the boomers did back in their day 😎

[@jackiechan8840]

@@LesGrossman69 This is the most ridiculous comment I've ever read. Your parents are Boomers FFS. Boomers are a cancer?! What is wrong with you? Sure, he was in the right place at the right time. No need to be so salty about it.

[@jmc8076]

Zach Statt Yeah, you told him. Hard to argue with such logic.

[@rokyericksonroks]

Jackie Chan The 30yr US Treasury bond topped out in May 1981 (ever so briefly, but it did) at just over 15%. You’ve hustled together $100K and can effectively helped yourself to a risk free ROI like that, ...for thirty years? Instead, you want to jump into RE just as the S&L scandal is ramping up? You have to be hungry to do stuff like this.

[@warntheidiotmasses7114]

You'd think with all these guys lining up to short CDS's those institutions would've raised the red flags internally, analyze it, and short them instead.

[@DrugMusicNFT]

A true hustler

[@PopleBackyardFarm]

interesting thoughts

[@russburton6262]

staying single gave him focus =mgtow is the only way

[@pedrogorilla483]

The only way is no way.

[@nickmattio3397]

Oh you a young person trying to get into an undervalued asset market now to get on the wealth ladder?!? Too Bad So Sad Nice Try Though

[@burrellinvestments5952]

I'm from Bluefield WV right on the Virginia West Virginia line lmbo!!!! 4:00 ish

[@jaylinn416]

What a great interview! And I am a rabid Trumpster.

[@anshool21]

amazing

[@c3po631]

Raoul, where are your socks?

[@suckers0]

He's short socks, long leather loafers!

[@rokyericksonroks]

The sock company waived the endorsement commission he was being paid, so he no longer wears their socks.

[@tomchips8297]

Sounds like Bloomberg

[@deathlarsen7502]

jews

[@RD-zq7bp]

@@deathlarsen7502 Yes sir. Did you catch the part where this guy said he went over to Israel as an exchange student? Definitely another jew.

[@1112-g1x]

little simplistic at the end, i think we r reverting bck ttype ie feudal society, its what capital always pushes 4.

[@Netstarr88]

Just shows me what I knew already and that is that John Paulson was shorting the sub prime derivative market while also pushing to start all this BS money printing at the Federal Reserve.

[@simpinainteasy680]

She deserves better. Shes a strong independent woman who wants to be a stay at home mom ( and be taken care of for her whole life).

[@fakhrerazinikkhah3138]

You have to get over the greed . Simple as that !

[@Johndoe-e1r]

I thought it was a great interview! Most stuff I hear nowadays is negative and there are a lot of things being said on the tube that’s just noise. Don’t get me wrong, somethings that have been said have some truth in it. However, only thing that I would like is for the people that see flaws in the system and have some experience in these areas, why not do something about it by informing the people that have control over the outcome. Too much divide and conquer going on, the truths lie in the middle.

[@Z3N1T4]

So anyone who can't become a millionaire at 20 working a paper route is a loser. Got it.

[@martinleepgg]

Great story and life experiences from Jeff. Take opportunities as they present, key being able to recognize them, furthermore act on them.

[@SGHedge]

Loves the free Govmt money...!

[@dadboss1]

Great guy

[@DonFather]

He's rich & he picked up 1 of 3 hot chicks at a party. But he made it sound like a friggen black swan event. Guy doesn't get out much does he?

[@champstar9669]

Almost the same story as Buffet. 1 trade/deal away from being completely ruined. Saved by a few bailout/restructured debt deals. More luck than skill. Could have easily turned out the OTHER way.

[@colloredbrothers]

not if these boys were working on inside information, its a BIG club and YOU'RE NOT INVITED as George Carlin would say. The way these people make this kind of money is by having close relations to the people who have their hands on the financial levers.

[@rokyericksonroks]

TheCanMan Can Since 1990 FIRE = Finance, Insurance, Real Estate. A bunch people pushing paper around, although I can make a case that insurance makes your world easier to take the chances an entrepreneur must take.

[@codymills1647]

You didn't ask him if he owns any bitcoin...

[@edwardgofsky4862]

One of my favorite characters from one of my favorite books of all time. I have the unabridged audio book which is over 10 hours long and i have listened to it dozens of times. The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History: By Gregory Zuckerman:

[@Boabywankenobi]

Pellegrini was really the genius behind the trade.

[@edwardgofsky4862]

@@Boabywankenobi He really was, in fact Pellegrini was my most favorite character. His backstory is one of the most interesting in wall street history.

[@georgekariuki8614]

Hi Edward,these guys are the stuff of legend! Do you mind sharing with me the audiobook?I would greatly appreciate to hear that story for some inspiration 👊

[@curtisalex456]

Thanks for the recommendations.

[@michael53572]

talking about insider trading ...lol

[@pedrogorilla483]

I wonder what it is like to be a multimillionaire. The guy had 400 million and was wondering what he should do. I would have retired with much less. But again, maybe if I had made 400 mil I would understand.

[@DeathNote444444]

everthing has it price, what we do is not not enjoying the life now, it is to enjoying it later, that is all

[@nwhuckin7761]

Great interview. Smart, likable and lucky guy, but what do we do with the rest of america that isn't so.. Not to mention that for every winner there are losers. At the end of the day there are only so many resources to go around..

[@grahamlister5659]

6 point plan for new banking system: 1. All Central banks and their right to create currency abolished. 2. All debt owed to Central banks extinguished 3. All assets and interests owned by central banks and central banks owners returned to respective governments i.e. people. 4. A National bank created for each country and owned by citizen tax payers with exclusive right omto create national currency 5. All banks nationalised. 6. Banks return to be utilities

[@gergokovacs2815]

"you are not going to make the poor richer by making the rich poorer" - what a great universal argument, meaning that we could never EVER even think of increasing the expectations towards billionaires in terms of social contribution. ridiculous to me that while paying more taxes is an absolute no go to most of these people, they love playing the philanthropist with 0.00001% of their actual wealth. so, so, soo greedy.

[@TheMountainBeyondTheWoods]

I'm not a fan of the billionaire class but opinions like these make me cringe.

[@moonie8830]

He's smart, hardworking and lucky, but considering how rich he is and how poor many in his country are, he lacks empathy and participation in trying to make it better. The system clearly doesn't work today for the majority, but it works for him.

[@davidepstein06]

Privileged boomer. Buy Bitcoin

[@jackiechan8840]

Your parents are Boomers bruh.

[@rokyericksonroks]

First, go put yourself through college selling circus tickets for a charity. Then, we’ll get you your own episode on Real Vision, okay bigshot?

[@davidepstein06]

Boomer Alert

[@TerryPullen]

Only in America.

[@TerryPullen]

@@clos8899 It's just a saying a boxing promoter used to use, but obviously your right.

[@seanhope734]

What’s funny guys like this don’t give any money to other people . This guy is properly the cheapest guy in the world .

This guy seems to be bragging about making money off the back's of other people's misfortunes. Just another middle aged white narc. Ripping people off as much as possible is nothing to brag about.

[@deathlarsen7502]

jewish

[@davidepstein06]

He gives too many wishy washy responses to how we can solve/fix the current economic system. “Get education” “this system works” “we’ll figure it out” The moment we entered into Keynesian economic policy ie taken off the gold standard and entered the world of fiat, was the moment everything changed for the worse. We need hard money. Gold and bitcoin

[@donnyvu5153]

Lol. We also need manual laborers and less paper pushers. But will we all agree?

[@mctheta249]

Wow ! What an epic story. An American story. Brings you through our current history as an individual but as a group at the same time. He's thoughtful, happy and optimistic about the future. With the knowledge and wherewithal to make it so. Very inspiring !

[@cheninblanc8208]

great interview until the last 5 minutes.......where the guest revealed himself to be just another "let them eat cake" republican

[@cheninblanc8208]

@James Zell Stockholm Syndrome afflicts many people

[@janiceg7661]

Is this guy running for President? Maybe he should be.

[@deathlarsen7502]

yeah right