"John Paulson Profits in Downturn" is the headline of a February 2009 article in Portfolio magazine. It's also the understatement of the century. Paulson is a hedge fund manager who has been ridiculously successful betting against banks and other entities that had exposure to the subprime crisis: In 2007, his funds were up $15 billion. In 2008, he didn't do as well: His main fund rose 38 percent in a year when the S&P 500 fell almost 40 percent. His 2007 earnings were in the neighborhood of $3.7 billion. According to Forbes, while 656 billionaires lost money last year, Paulson was one of the 44 who added to their fortunes. He jumped to #76 on the magazine's list of the world's richest people, approximately doubling his net worth since 2007. According to Portfolio, $100 invested with Paulson's "Credit Fund 1" in 2007 would be worth nearly $700 today. And on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that Paulson may have made another $428 million since September 2008 by shorting Lloyds Banking Group and HBOS Plc., two British financial firms.