Any fans of the 2015 film The Big Short will know the character of Jared Vennett. But, is he based on a real person? Who is it? And what is he up to now?
The Big Short, directed by Adam McKay, has a star-studded line-up including Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. It is based on the non-fiction book written in 2010 by Michael Lewis, which describes the real estate market of the 2000s, in particular the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
The film was released by Paramount Pictures in December 2015 to critical success, grossing $133 million and winning the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Buy Ativan Online.
The Big Short ©Disneyplus
Is Jared Vennett based on a real person?
Ryan Gosling as Jared Vennett ©Jaap Buitendijk Paramount Pictures
What is Greg Lippmann’s background?
Lippmann grew up in New York city before attending the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied economics and english.
He joined Credit Suisse in 1991, where he became a director and head of ABS and CDO trading, before moving to Deutsche Bank. There he worked as a trader of non-investment grade ABS (asset-based) and RMBS (residential mortgage-backed) securities. In 2003, he became global head of ABS and CDO trading.
Greg Lippmann ©Bloomberg
What has Greg Lippmann done since The Big Short?
Lippmann left Deutsch Bank in April 2010, joining Fred Brettschneider to start a hedge fund. Brettschneider was formerly Deutsche Bank’s head of global markets, and together they founded LibreMax Partners, which started managing $900 million and now manages $8.6 billion (at time of writing in 2022). Greg Lippmann’s role is portfolio manager and chief investment officer.
He serves on the board of the South Fork Natural History Museum and is on the advisory council of the American Museum of Natural History.
How did Greg Lippmann feel about being played by Ryan Gosling in The Big Short?
It turns out he was pretty happy about it. As he explains:
“There’s a lot less appealing people to play you in a movie than Ryan Gosling. If one of the sexiest men alive plays you in a movie, it’s hard to complain about that.”
Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Jared Vennett:
General Questions
Who is Jared Vennett?
Jared Vennett is a fictionalized character in The Big Short (2015), played by Ryan Gosling. He is based on Greg Lippmann, a real-life Deutsche Bank trader who recognized the impending collapse of the housing market and aggressively sold credit default swaps to investors willing to bet against subprime mortgages.
Is Jared Vennett a real person?
No, Jared Vennett is not a real person. He is a character based on Greg Lippmann, who played a key role in profiting from the 2008 financial crisis.
What role does Jared Vennett play in The Big Short?
Jared Vennett acts as a middleman who recognizes the weaknesses in the subprime mortgage market. He sells credit default swaps (CDS) to investors like Mark Baum (Steve Eisman) and Michael Burry (Christian Bale’s character), helping them profit when the housing market crashes.
How accurate is Jared Vennett’s portrayal in The Big Short?
The character closely follows Greg Lippmann’s real-life actions but is slightly exaggerated for dramatic and comedic effect. His aggressive and confident personality mirrors Lippmann’s real-life reputation.
Career and Finance
What was Jared Vennett’s (Greg Lippmann’s) role in the 2008 financial crisis?
Greg Lippmann was a trader at Deutsche Bank who saw the dangers of subprime mortgages early on. He aggressively pitched the idea of shorting these risky securities using credit default swaps (CDS) to hedge funds and investors, earning massive profits when the market collapsed.
Did Jared Vennett actually make money from the crash?
Yes. In real life, Greg Lippmann made an estimated $47 million personally, while Deutsche Bank profited around $1.5 billion from these trades.
Did Jared Vennett (Greg Lippmann) predict the 2008 crash?
Yes. He was one of the early believers that the subprime mortgage market was fundamentally flawed. He gathered data, created presentations, and convinced skeptical investors to buy into his strategy.
How did Jared Vennett convince investors to short the housing market?
In The Big Short, Jared Vennett uses an amusing yet effective demonstration with a Jenga tower to explain how unstable the mortgage-backed securities market is. In real life, Greg Lippmann had a similar approach—he prepared detailed presentations and used straightforward analogies to show why subprime mortgages were a ticking time bomb.
Personal Life and Beliefs
Was Jared Vennett as arrogant as he appears in The Big Short?
Yes, to an extent. Greg Lippmann was known for his confidence and brash personality. Many Wall Street insiders found his aggressive sales tactics either persuasive or annoying.
What happened to Jared Vennett (Greg Lippmann) after the financial crisis?
After leaving Deutsche Bank in 2010, Greg Lippmann started his own hedge fund, LibreMax Capital, which specializes in structured credit investments.
Did Jared Vennett actually make cold calls like in the movie?
Yes, Greg Lippmann reportedly called numerous hedge funds and investors, trying to convince them to short the mortgage market before the collapse.
Did Jared Vennett regret profiting from the crash?
There’s no public record of Greg Lippmann expressing deep regret. He believed he was right about the market’s flaws and saw himself as someone exposing the truth rather than causing the crash.
Does Greg Lippmann still work in finance?
Yes, Greg Lippmann is currently the Chief Investment Officer of LibreMax Capital, a hedge fund he co-founded.
Read Also: Mark Baum from The Big Short
