By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hedge fund manager Steven Eisman, known for a big winning bet against the U.S. housing market dramatized in the movie “The Big Short,” was put on leave by his firm on Friday after he said on social media he was celebrating devastation in the Gaza Strip.
His firm, Neuberger Berman, said Eisman did not speak on its behalf and called his actions “objectionable.” More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s nearly year-old war in the enclave, the Gaza health ministry has said.
An X user posted that the world was silent about war-ravaged Gaza. Eisman responded: “You must be kidding. We are not silent. We are celebrating.” His account has since been deleted.
Eisman could not immediately be contacted. In comments cited by media reports, he apologized for his remarks and said he had intended to refer to Israel’s attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
A Neuberger Berman spokesperson distanced the firm from Eisman’s comments.
“Even though Mr. Eisman has acknowledged that he mistook the content of the post he responded to, his actions on social media were irresponsible and objectionable,” the company spokesperson added. Eisman joined the firm in 2014.
Eisman profited from the 2007 crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, which turned into a global financial crisis, by shorting the stocks of American banks. The episode was the basis for the 2015 film “The Big Short.”
Human rights advocates have warned about rising dehumanization of Arabs, Muslims and Jews amid Israel’s war in Gaza which has displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.
Israel’s actions followed an attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 were killed and about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. It sparked the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Michelle Price and Cynthia Osterman)