This study investigates the mediating role of real earnings management (REM) on the relation between chief executive officer (CEO) overconfidence and firm future (subsequent) performance in companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange over a 7-year period from 2012 to 2018. An investment-based measure is used as a proxy for managerial overconfidence. Three measures of real manipulation activities (abnormal cash flows from operating activities, production costs and discretionary expenditures) are aggregated into one proxy to measure REM. The dependent variable future performance is measured using the industry-adjusted 𝑅𝑂𝐴t+1. The SPSS version of PROCESS is used to estimate the total, direct and indirect effects of overconfidence on firm future performance. Bootstrap samples for percentile bootstrap confidence intervals are 50000. Results revealed that REM mediates the impact of overconfidence on firm future performance. Relative to firms that do not have CEO overconfidence, firms with CEO overconfidence are, on average, 2.2% higher in their future performance. Holding REM constant, firms with overconfident CEO are estimated to be 1.6% higher in their future performance than firms that do not have overconfident CEO. Firms with CEO overconfidence are .6% higher in their future performance as a result of the effect of overconfidence on REM, which in turn affects future performance of the firm