Bill Miller revealed he’s a billionaire. Here's what the groundbreaking investor is betting on now

Published Tue, Apr 27 202110:47 AM EDTUpdated Tue, Apr 27 202111:52 AM EDT

Bill Miller made his name on Wall Street as a market-beating value investor, but what ultimately turned him into a billionaire is his eye for growth. In an interview with Barron's on Friday, Miller admitted he has joined the billionaire club thanks to his enormous bets on Amazon and bitcoin. The investor told the paper that his Amazon stake, which he had owned for over 20 years, has grown so big that he is now the biggest shareholder besides Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott. As for bitcoin, Miller revealed to Barron's that the cryptocurrency made him even more money than Amazon. He started buying bitcoin around $200 to $300, and now the digital coin is worth more than $53,000 apiece. The investing style in his personal portfolio could be seen as out of character for an investor who stood out on Wall Street by running a big value fund for decades. Miller once managed the Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust, which beat the S & P 500 for 15 straight years from 1991 to 2005. However, the fund suffered massive losses during the financial crisis, which dented Miller's track record and led to a huge client exodus. Now the investor is making a grand comeback with his new firm Miller Value Partners where, contrary to its name, growth also played an important part in its funds' recent stellar performance. Miller co-manages the Miller Opportunity Trust (LMNOX) , which has about $2.7 billion in assets under management. The fund has rallied 20% this year after a near 40% return in 2020. Its one-, three- and five-year returns rank in the top percentile for its category, according to Morningstar. "He doesn't fit the classic growth or value box," Morningstar senior analyst Kevin McDevitt said. "If I could summarize him in one word — he's aggressive." Here are Miller's newest bets. Miller Opportunity's biggest holding right now is DXC Technology , which takes up 4.4% of the portfolio. Miller first bought the tech company in the first quarter. After losing more than 30% in 2020, the stock has rebounded more than 20% this year. Farfetch is another top holding that paid off well for Miller, who first piled into the British luxury online retailer at the end of 2019. The company massively benefitted from the unprecedented shift to e-commerce during the Covid-19 pandemic, pushing the stock up a whopping 500% in 2020. Amazon, the fund's fourth-largest holding, climbed 76% last year and is up nearly 5% this year. Another winning purchase is Norwegian Cruise Line , which Miller picked up at the end of last year. After falling over 50% last year during the pandemic, the cruise line operator rebounded close to 19% in 2021. Miller also dabbled in the white-hot SPAC market recently. At the end of the first quarter, he bought Desktop Metal , a 3D-printing manufacturing company that went public by merging with Trine Acquisition Corp. in August. Special purpose acquisition companies raise capital in an initial public offering and use the cash to merge with a private company and take it public, usually within two years. "I think in the SPAC area, which I think that game is largely winding down now, and many of the SPACs became extraordinarily expensive valuations," Miller said last week in a interview on CNBC's "The Exchange." "But now some of them have corrected... We think some of those SPACs are attractive." Because of Miller's aggressive approach and a high turnover rate (64%), Morningstar's McDevitt warned the fund is the most volatile in its category over the last decade. "When the fund is doing well, it's doing very well. And when it's doing poorly, it's doing very poorly. Not many investors can handle that," McDevitt said. Demand for bitcoin Miller told CNBC last week he believes bitcoin is firmly entering into the mainstream, adding that the cryptocurrency's recent rally is significantly different from its 2017 ascension and subsequent plunge. "Supply [of bitcoin] is growing 2% a year and demand is growing faster. That's all you really need to know, and that means it's going higher," Miller said. In February, the Miller Opportunity Trust filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow investments in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the largest cryptocurrency trust that is one of very few ways to get exposure to bitcoin without buying the digital token directly. The Miller fund sought to have up to 15% of its assets exposed to the cryptocurrency trust, according to the filing. As of the end of March, Miller hasn't bought the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust for his fund.

Bill Miller.

Heidi Gutman | CNBC

Bill Miller made his name on Wall Street as a market-beating value investor, but what ultimately turned him into a billionaire is his eye for growth.

In an interview with Barron's on Friday, Miller admitted he has joined the billionaire club thanks to his enormous bets on Amazon and bitcoin. The investor told the paper that his Amazon stake, which he had owned for over 20 years, has grown so big that he is now the biggest shareholder besides Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott.

As for bitcoin, Miller revealed to Barron's that the cryptocurrency made him even more money than Amazon. He started buying bitcoin around $200 to $300, and now the digital coin is worth more than $53,000 apiece.

The investing style in his personal portfolio could be seen as out of character for an investor who stood out on Wall Street by running a big value fund for decades.

Miller once managed the Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust, which beat the S&P 500 for 15 straight years from 1991 to 2005. However, the fund suffered massive losses during the financial crisis, which dented Miller's track record and led to a huge client exodus.

Now the investor is making a grand comeback with his new firm Miller Value Partners where, contrary to its name, growth also played an important part in its funds' recent stellar performance.

Miller co-manages the Miller Opportunity Trust (LMNOX), which has about $2.7 billion in assets under management. The fund has rallied 20% this year after a near 40% return in 2020. Its one-, three- and five-year returns rank in the top percentile for its category, according to Morningstar.

"He doesn't fit the classic growth or value box," Morningstar senior analyst Kevin McDevitt said. "If I could summarize him in one word — he's aggressive."

Here are Miller's newest bets.