Billionaire fund manager doubles down on Nvidia, partner in AI stack shift
When a $70 billion hedge fund manager goes big on Nvidia () , and then pairs it with a multi-billion-dollar bet on its top AI-cloud partner, you can't help but pay attention.
On top of that, billionaire Philippe Laffont loaded up on chips and layered in cloud capacity in building a portfolio that's effectively wired for the AI capex super-cycle.
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For him, it's much less about chasing the server shipments and more about owning the infrastructure every chatbot or AI model will need.
Philippe Laffont: running $70 billion with a tech-first playbook
Philippe Laffont runs the show at Coatue Management, which has arguably the most tech-savvy hedge funds out there.
A former 'Tiger Cub' under Julian Robertson, Laffont kick-started Coatue in 1999 after graduating from MIT.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Coatue is managing north of $70 billion in assets, layering in public-market bets including a ton of private and venture investments.Laffont's focus has squarely been on innovation that can scale up quickly, whether that's AI, cloud, fintech, or next-generation consumer platforms.
For him, it's all about picking businesses that control the infrastructure or IP behind major technological shifts. The play is simple: If you can own the bottleneck, you own the profits.
It's exactly why Coatue is a must-watch name when big tech or AI is in play.
Philippe Laffont bets big on Nvidia and CoreWeave in Q2
Philippe Laffont's Q2 portfolio offers a clear narrative, indicating a shift from 'boxes' to 'platforms plus cloud capacity.'
At the heart of it is AI juggernaut Nvidia.
Coatue boosted its stake in the company by roughly a third, taking its holdings to 11.5 million shares as of June 30.That's a massive 34% jump from Q1, which serves a sharp retort to the chatter that he'd exited his position in the stock.
For Laffont and many others, Nvidia's grip on the training-and-inference economy through GPUs, networking, and CUDA is virtually impossible to match.
In line with his core thesis, there's Coatue's high-conviction bet on CoreWeave () , Nvidia's premier AI-cloud customer and strategic partner.
The fund added a massive 3.39 million shares in Q2, taking its stake to roughly $2.9 billion. Many consider it a play on scarcity, where, in the AI realm, those controlling accelerators and power are able to monetize before the app winners are known.
Q2 numbers underscored the point.
CoreWeave posted $1.21 billion in sales, expanding its backlog to $30.1 billion, while hiking 2025 guidance despite scale-up losses.
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On top of these bets, Laffont pivoted toward platform and IP.
That includes massive new stakes in Oracle (valued at $843 million) and Arm (valued at $749.4 million).
Naturally, these new stakes in Oracle and Arm effectively broaden the AI play from semiconductors to software, data, and CPU toll booths.
On top of that, it's important to note that Oracle's cloud infrastructure and database stack benefit immensely from GenAI workloads. Similarly, Arm's licensing model efficiently captures upside from custom silicon and edge AI, sidestepping capex cycles.
Additionally, in strengthening Coatue's broader AI infrastructure positioning, Laffont loaded up on Broadcom, adding 5.65 million shares (valued at $1.56 billion) from 3.57 million shares.
Philippe Laffont's Q2 exit in Super Micro, Monolithic Power points to an AI-focused reset
Philippe Laffont's Coatue made multiple cleanups in Q2, stepping back from hardware names that can swing hard with demand cycles.
The fund exited Super Micro and Monolithic Power, in a move to trim exposure to the volatility in server manufacturing and power-chip supply chains.
Instead, the money is being redeployed toward cloud and platform plays, which offer stronger pricing power and predictable demand visibility.
The reshuffling didn't stop there.
Coatue added slightly to its TSMC stake, betting that the chip foundry's advanced packaging will remain mission-critical in driving the next leg of demand in AI hardware.
Offsetting that, the fund trimmed Amazon, sold out of JD.com, and took a small cut in Adobe.
Other major trims in Q2 included:
Alibaba: The fund cut its stake in the Chinese tech giant by 3.8 million shares to 868,000, reflecting an effort to lower exposure to regional risks.
Advanced Micro Devices: Coatue slacked its stake by 1.53 million shares from 3.24 million, lowering chip-cycle volatility.
Eli Lilly: Cut to just 117,000 shares from 184,000, easing risks tied to high valuations and drug-pipeline hiccups.
In short, Q2's moves reflect a reset: The fund reduced its exposure to hardware cycles and volatile geographies, while doubling down on AI infrastructure and platform names.Billionaire fund manager doubles down on Nvidia, partner in AI stack shift first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 15, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
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