Private investment arms of some of the world’s wealthiest individuals ended 2025 with a series of high-conviction equity moves, according to fourth-quarter securities filings reviewed by CNBC.
Among them, Leon Cooperman’s family office, Omega Advisors, drew attention for increasing its stake in Manchester United during the final quarter of the year. The holding in the publicly listed football club is now valued at roughly $46.5 million. A separate filing clarified that Cooperman’s 5.2% stake is a passive investment.
However, Omega’s most significant move was less publicised. The firm purchased more than $375 million in shares of mortgage lender Rocket Companies, making it its largest position at nearly $407 million.
Other billionaire investors made sizeable technology bets that have already delivered gains. David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management tripled its investment in Micron to $428.1 million, making the semiconductor company its top holding. Micron shares, supported by demand for AI data centre memory chips, have climbed about 50% since the start of 2026.
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office also initiated a new position in fuel-cell manufacturer Bloom Energy, whose stock has more than doubled year to date.
Cryptocurrency-linked investments have been more volatile. WIT LLC, tied to the Walton family office, allocated $4 million to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, a position representing less than 1% of its portfolio. The ETF has fallen 21% so far this year. Meanwhile, Kemnay Advisory Services, the investment vehicle of duty-free entrepreneur Alan Parker, increased its Coinbase stake by nearly 44%, though Coinbase shares have declined 18% since January.
The filings also revealed contrasting views on the so-called “Magnificent Seven” technology stocks. Duquesne raised its Amazon position by 69% to about $170 million while exiting Meta entirely. In contrast, Longbow SA, linked to the billionaire Rausing family, trimmed holdings across Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet and Meta.
Ray Dalio’s latest filing for Marino Management signalled a different kind of positioning. The firm disclosed a $438.5 million allocation to the SPDR Gold Trust, accounting for nearly 90% of its portfolio. Dalio, who has cautioned about a possible AI bubble and rising geopolitical tensions, has framed gold not as a short-term trade but as a structural portfolio diversifier.
As he told CNBC earlier this month, investors often focus on whether gold will rise or fall. A more useful question, he suggested, is what percentage of a portfolio should be allocated to gold as protection against weaker assets.
