Did any macro-economist leading up to the 2008 mortgage crisis and financial meltdown make a small fortune on shorting the stock market?

John Paulson, who was the US treasury secretary, made 5billion dollars from predicting the financial markets would explode. He did it by betting that some renowned financial institutions would cave in like Barclays. He made money when the economic subdivision collapsed, and when it was picking up again. He made a firm called Paulson recovery fund 2008, venturing into business, basically the commercial sector, that increased as the economy recovered. He also regarded the health market and medicines as appealing and money-generating options. He stated that one of the problems of succeeding is choosing the right wealth options and choosing the starting points.