Investment firms managing the wealth of the ultra-rich ramped up their holdings in Nvidia just before the DeepSeek-driven market rout.
Regulatory filings reveal that family offices linked to Sweden’s Rausing dynasty, hedge fund billionaire David Tepper, and prominent Silicon Valley investors increased their stakes in the AI chipmaker during the last quarter of 2024.
Longbow Finance, the Rausing family’s Swiss investment firm, made Nvidia its largest U.S. stock holding, acquiring approximately 120,000 shares and bringing its position to $87 million by year-end. Meanwhile, Alta Advisers, another Rausing family wealth manager based in London, purchased 11,900 shares—their most significant U.S. stock acquisition of the quarter. The family, which controls the food-packaging giant Tetra Laval, holds an estimated net worth of $30 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Nvidia had been a strong performer, surging nearly 900% from early 2023 to January 2025. However, the landscape shifted dramatically when Chinese AI startup DeepSeek claimed its technology outperformed Western rivals at a lower cost. This triggered a 17% single-day drop in Nvidia’s stock, wiping out roughly $589 billion in market value.
Despite the sell-off, many wealth managers had doubled down on Nvidia. Tepper’s firm, Appaloosa, added 55,000 shares in Q4 2024 while also expanding investments in Chinese equities. Iconiq Capital, a multifamily office managing funds for U.S. tech billionaires, acquired 33,300 shares in the chipmaker led by Jensen Huang, now the world’s wealthiest semiconductor mogul.
However, some family offices reduced their exposure. Kemnay Advisory Services, which helps oversee the fortune of duty-free mogul Alan Parker, sold approximately 26,000 Nvidia shares in the last quarter of 2024.
Under U.S. regulations, investment firms managing over $100 million in U.S. equities must submit 13F filings within 45 days after each quarter, offering rare insights into hedge fund and family office strategies.
Additional 13F Filing Highlights:
- Iconiq Capital disclosed a $1.6 billion stake in ServiceTitan, a cloud software company that went public in December 2024. The stock has since gained about 40%.
- Wildcat Capital Management, the family office of the late David Bonderman, initiated positions in GitLab and Procore Technologies.
- Appaloosa exited a $104 million stake in Adobe.
(Source: Bloomberg)
