A hedge fund advised by Nassim Taleb made $1 billion this week

A hedge fund advised by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the man who popularized the "black swan theory," made a killing on Monday.

The Wall Street Journal's Juliet Chung reports that Mark Spitznagel's Miami-based Universa Investments was up 20% on Monday.

The fund netted about $1 billion in profits over the course of the week, some realized and others on paper, according to the report.

We reached out to Universa for comment.

Taleb, the author of "The Black Swan" and "Antifragile," serves as a scientific advisor to Universa. A "black swan" is an unexpected and rare event that has significant consequences.

That is what we experienced on Monday when the Volatility Index (VIX) hit its highest level in four years as markets got clobbered and the Dow collapsed 1,000 points in early trading.

It is the sort of thing that hedge funds like Universa are made for.

Business Insider reported earlier in the week that volatility hedge funds run by New York-based Capstone Investment Advisors and London-based 36 South had made seen huge returns this week.