The Man Behind "The Greatest Trade Ever" Lost $30 Billion on His Encore.

John Paulson became a Wall Street legend in 2007 by making $15 billion shorting subprime mortgages — a trade so prescient they literally wrote a book about it called "The Greatest Trade Ever." Then, flush with cash and convinced the Fed's money printing would destroy the dollar, Paulson went all-in on gold. He piled billions into gold ETFs and mining stocks, telling investors that gold was the only safe haven left. The problem? He was buying at the top. Gold peaked in 2011 and spent the next five years cratering. His mining stocks fell 55-60%. His fund's assets collapsed from $38 billion to $9 billion — most of it his own money because everyone else had fled. According to Bloomberg, Paulson's funds lost $30 billion in value from 2010 to 2018, mostly on gold. He finally capitulated and sold in 2018, right before gold rallied again. The lesson? Even the guy who made the greatest trade ever can't repeat it. The market doesn't care about your highlight reel.