Steven Eisman, renowned for his prescient bet against the US housing market, has been placed on indefinite leave by his employer, Neuberger Berman, following controversial remarks about Gaza. Eisman, a managing director at the New York-based Neuberger Berman since 2014, gained notoriety through Michael Lewis’ book The Big Short. In the 2016 film adaptation, his character was portrayed by Steve Carell, under the name Mark Baum.
The incident that led to Eisman’s leave involved comments made on his social media account, which included the Neuberger Berman logo. He responded to a graphic post depicting burning buildings and people in distress, purportedly due to an Israeli attack, with the statement, "We are not silent. We are celebrating." This post had highlighted a lack of international concern over such events, stating: "The world is silent." Eisman later issued an apology, clarifying that his remark referred to Israeli attacks on Hizbollah in Lebanon, and subsequently deleted the account.
Eisman rose to prominence by shorting collateralized debt obligations linked to US housing mortgages before their collapse in 2007-2008. His future at Neuberger Berman remains uncertain, according to an individual familiar with the situation. The company announced his indefinite leave of absence on Friday evening, emphasizing that Eisman’s personal comments on social media do not represent the firm. Although Eisman acknowledged his misinterpretation of the post, Neuberger Berman labeled his social media actions as irresponsible and objectionable.
Eisman has frequently expressed strong pro-Israel opinions on social media, regularly issuing posts supporting the country against its critics. His comments have not been limited to international subjects. Earlier in the week, he predicted that the US market would decline sharply if Kamala Harris won the presidential election and the Democrats gained control of Congress, also forecasting a victory for Donald Trump.
Trained as a lawyer at Harvard, Eisman transitioned to financial analysis at Wall Street’s Oppenheimer before moving to the hedge fund FrontPoint Partners, where he focused on subprime mortgage mispricing. He left FrontPoint in 2011 and established Emrys Partners the following year, eventually joining Neuberger after Emrys closed.
Neuberger Berman, formerly owned by the defunct Lehman Brothers, became an independent, employee-owned investment firm in 2009. Since then, it has flourished, currently managing $481 billion in assets with a workforce of 739 employees, according to its website.
