David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Tumbles 14% In 2015 As Major Holdings Sink In Global Stock Rout

Billionaire hedge fund manager David Einhorn announced Monday that his Greenlight Capital Inc. hedge fund has lost nearly 14 percent in 2015, marking the firm’s most difficult year since the financial crisis in 2008. The recent rout in global financial markets, which has sent all three major U.S. indexes into correction territory, has hit the firm much worse than the average hedge fund.

“We are disappointed about the recent results,” Greenlight said in a note to investors, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Einhorn, 46, founded Greenlight in 1996 and is widely known for betting against Lehman Brothers months before the latter collapsed in September 2008 -- at ­the height of the Great Recession.

Greenlight told investors Monday that it lost 5.3 percent in August and 13.8 percent for the year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The hedge fund's losses came "primarily” from its investments in energy company Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX), chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) and solar company SunEdison Inc. (NYSE:SUNE), the Journal said.

Heading into August, Greenlight was down 9 percent, and up 2.5 percent for the year at the end of July, the New York Times reported, citing research firm HFR.

Earlier this summer, Einhorn said his investment in SunEdison was “our only significant winner,” according to the Times, after the stock rallied from $24 a share to $29.91 during the April-June period. However, SunEdison took a massive dive last month, plunging 55 percent.

Adding to the firm’s losses, one of Greenlight’s biggest positions -- coal producer Consol Energy -- lost nearly 8 percent in August and dropped 55 percent for the year. Meanwhile, Micron Technology has lost around 53 percent since January.

Greenlight also has exposure to iPhone maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and auto giant General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). Shares of Apple have also seen declines this summer. The stock was down roughly 7 percent last month during the stock market rout.