Jeffrey Gundlach

In 2009, shortly after his firing from TCW, Gundlach founded Doubleline, along with Philip Barach and 14 other members of Gundlach's senior staff from TCW.[7] Barach was Gundlach's co-manager of the $12 Billion TCW Total Return bond fund.[7] In a February 2011 cover story, Barron's called him the "King of Bonds".[8]

On March 9, 2011, Gundlach was quoted on CNBC that "Munis Are The New Subprime." "You’ve got a history of low defaults, which is comforting. But that kind of sounds like what subprime sounded like back in 2006," Gundlach said. Gundlach pointed out that even if defaults do not ultimately climb as high as critics like Meredith Whitney have warned, muni bonds will likely trade much lower. "Between here and the end game, lies the valley. And the valley is full of fear. I think the muni market is going to go down by at least, on the long end, something like 15 and 20 percent," he said.[9]

On March 10, 2011, Gundlach reportedly liquidated 55 percent of his personal holdings in municipal bonds.[10] However, the decline he predicted did not occur and on the same day as his liquidation, the Bond Buyer Index closed at 106.151904, with this index closing at 119.886063 on December 30, 2011, the last day of trading in 2011, equivalent to an improvement of +12.9%. The index closed at 129.99416 on December 31, 2012.[11]

At the time, Gundlach also stated: "Nobody owns California general obligation bonds because they think it's an improving credit story," he said, drawing chuckles from the audience.[10]

However, since March 2011, the ratings of California General Obligation bonds improved from A- to AA- by Standard and Poors and from A1 to Aa3 by Moody's.[12] In 2012, he was included in the 50 Most Influential list of Bloomberg Markets magazine.

• 2014 market outlook[13]
• 2013 market outlook

Gundlach's Santa Monica home was burgled in his absence in September 2012. Several pieces of art were taken along with some wine, five designer watches, cash and a prized[16] 2010 red Porsche Carrera 4S.[17] Some days after the theft, Gundlach added to a $200,000 "overall" reward a $1 million reward for the Piet Mondrian painting among the missing, and a $500,000 reward for the Jasper Johns. The total value of the stolen property was put at $10 million at the time.[16][17] Within weeks, a tip led to the recovery of the art works and arrests of suspects in the theft. The rewards—with the one for the Mondrian being termed a record for a single art work—were being said to have played a role in the recovery though no determination of payment had been made. The Porsche was still missing.[18]

In 2016, Gundlach donated $42.5 million to Albright–Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, as part of their capital campaign and expansion project.[19] The gift represents the city’s largest cultural gift from an individual, according to museum director Janne Sirén. The Gallery was renamed the Buffalo Albright-Knox-Gundlach Art Museum, or Buffalo AKG Art Museum for short.[20]