Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson is well known for his highly successful bets against mortgage backed securities and US financial institutions in 2008. But now, Paulson's $9bn Advantage Plus is down almost 20% in 2011 in part due to bad bets on US financial institutions like Citi and Bank of America.
Over the last few years, Paulson's company, Paulson & Co. has become one of the world's largest and most followed hedge funds. Paulson himself reportedly made more than $5 billion in 2010.