Peter Thiel Had $244 Million Bet on Volatility Jump at Year-End
- Billionaire’s macro firm held put options on short VIX ETF
- ProShares ETF that Thiel wagered against plunged this month
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Peter Thiel is known for venture investments like those in Facebook Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. But it was a macro strategy that positioned him to make a killing on last week’s spike in market volatility.
Thiel Macro, which invests the billionaire’s fortune, held a bet at the end of 2017 tied to the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday from the San Francisco-based firm. Thiel, 50, would have reaped big profits if he continued to hold the wager -- composed of put options -- when stocks tumbled last week and the VIX soared.