Nvidia's equity portfolio surges to $99B in two years

Nvidia has assembled a nearly $100 billion equity investment portfolio in just two years, transforming itself into one of the technology sector's largest investors while simultaneously dominating the AI chip market.

The chipmaker held $99 billion in equity investments as of July 26, according to its latest earnings report first disclosed by Business Insider. The portfolio includes approximately $48 billion in publicly traded securities, $48 billion in private company shares, and $3 billion in equity-method investments.

Explosive growth trajectory

The scale of Nvidia's investment expansion is striking. Its equity holdings increased 14-fold from roughly $7 billion last summer and 45-fold from $2.2 billion two years ago. The company has also committed an additional $25 billion to future equity investments.

Nvidia's quarterly disclosure revealed significant positions in major technology companies as of June 30. The chipmaker held a $30 billion stake in Intel, a $21 billion position in SpaceX, and investments ranging from $2 billion to $5 billion each in CoreWeave, Coherent, Synopsys, and Nokia.

These holdings place Nvidia among the largest tech investors, though it still trails Alphabet, which reported a $232 billion equity portfolio at the end of June, including $94 billion in SpaceX shares following that company's June IPO.

Strategic rationale and criticism

Nvidia CFO Colette Kress explained on the company's earnings call that frontier AI labs face compute constraints limiting their ability to improve products and generate revenue. Nvidia has invested nearly $50 billion to "help power this flywheel," according to Kress.

In its earnings report, Nvidia stated it makes equity investments to "enhance our growth opportunities, cultivate our ecosystem, and strengthen our competitive position."

However, the strategy has drawn skepticism from prominent investors. Michael Burry, known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, said Nvidia is "overreaching" by financing and investing in its own chip customers. Former "Shark Tank" investor Mark Cuban called it "truly scary" how dependent the AI boom has become on Nvidia "funding everyone and anyone."

Why it matters

Nvidia's investment strategy reveals how the company is leveraging its market dominance to create a self-reinforcing ecosystem. By financing the AI infrastructure buildout, Nvidia effectively funds demand for its own products while gaining equity stakes in the companies driving AI adoption. This approach carries execution risk but could cement Nvidia's position across multiple layers of the AI stack. The criticism from Burry and Cuban suggests concerns about circular dependencies that could amplify volatility if AI investment sentiment shifts.

Nvidia's stock has surged from below $15 in early 2023 to $228, pushing its market capitalization to $5.5 trillion and making it the world's most valuable company.

These details were first reported by Business Insider.