Legendary investor Bill Miller has doubled the S&P 500 this year thanks to a well-timed Uber trade

<p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5fdb70aad366e600180989ca-2400/gettyimages-480821452.jpg" border="0" alt="Bill Miller" data-mce-source="Heidi Gutman/CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><ul><li><strong>Legendary investor Bill Miller is poised to beat the S&amp;P 500 for a second straight year thanks to a timely options bet on Uber Technologies, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.</strong></li><li><strong>Miller's $2.2 billion mutual fund is up 36% year-to-date as of Tuesday, more than double the S&amp;P 500's return of 16% including dividends, according to Bloomberg.</strong></li><li><strong>The Miller Opportunity Trust purchased 850,000 shares of Uber in the third quarter, along with options to buy an additional 4.2 million shares of Uber at $32 each through mid-January 2022.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/'hprecirc-bullet'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><hr><p>A massive bet on Uber Technologies will likely help legendary investor Bill Miller trounce the S&amp;P 500 for the second year in a row, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/bill-miller-leads-s-p-500-for-second-year-with-sharp-bet-on-uber">according to a Bloomberg report.</a></p><p>The Miller Opportunity Trust, a mutual fund with $2.2 billion in assets, is up 36% year-to-date as of Tuesday, more than double the S&amp;P 500's return of 16% including dividends, according to Bloomberg.</p><p>That strong outperformance has in part been driven by a sizable third quarter bet on Uber, just before a key November ballot initiative in California passed that exempted gig-economy companies from classifying all drivers and delivery workers as employees. That change would have increased costs for Uber significantly.</p><p><strong><em>Read More:</em></strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-ipo-market-views-top-fund-manager-brian-barish-2020-12'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Fund manager Brian Barish has returned more than 550% to investors over 2 decades, and he just had 2 of his best years ever. He told us how he did it - and 3 top picks for the next 5 years.</em></a></p><p>The Miller Opportunity Trust purchased 850,000 shares of Uber in the third quarter, as well as options to buy an additional 4.2 million shares at $32 each through mid-January 2022. The mutual fund purchased the options for $8 per sharethe value has since tripled to $24.75 as of early December. Shares of Uber are up more than 50% since the end of October.</p><p>According to a Bloomberg interview with the co-manager of the Opportunity Trust, Samantha McLemore, their investment in Uber was driven by their confidence and the performance of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.</p><p>"We think Dara has done a great job on fixing the culture and moving the company toward profitability rather than growth at any cost," McLemore told Bloomberg.</p><p>Miller's status as a legendary investor was cemented by his consecutive 15-year outperformance of the S&amp;P 500 through 2005 when he managed the Legg Mason Value Trust.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-picks-electric-vehicles-ev-china-domination-ubs-2020-12'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buy these 26 stocks poised to surge as China starts to dominate the electric-vehicle landscape, UBS says</a></em></p><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/legendary-investor-bill-miller-has-doubled-sp500-this-year-uber-2020-12-1029903159#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/candy-corn-ingredients-made-of-gelatin-lac-resin-halloween-sugar-syrup-2017-10">What candy corn is actually made of</a></p>
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