Stanley Druckenmiller exits Alphabet, keeps winning AI plays Nvidia and Microsoft

Published Thu, Feb 15 202410:05 AM EST

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller dumped his stake in Google's Alphabet entirely last quarter, while keeping his high-conviction bets on artificial intelligence through Microsoft and Nvidia . Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office sold $112 million worth of Alphabet shares last quarter, according to a regulatory filing. His firm briefly held Alphabet in the first quarter of 2023, sold it the next quarter and entered the stock again in the third quarter. Shares of Alphabet soared 58% in 2023, but the stock has underperformed in 2024. Its latest earnings report showed ad revenue that trailed analysts' projections. The legendary investor, who has never had a down year in the markets, previously said AI could be a fruitful opportunity for investors , especially when the economy comes out of the next recession. He said he has been betting on the space through two stocks — Microsoft and Nvidia. Druckenmiller added to his big Microsoft bet slightly in the most recent quarter, leaving the stake valued at more than $400 million and family office's biggest holding. Meanwhile, the 70-year-old protege of George Soros trimmed his holding in Nvidia last quarter, making it his third biggest stake at the end of 2023 (worth more than $300 million.) But Druckenmiller, a Bowdoin College grad, bought call options on Nvidia with a notional value of $242 million last quarter. Call options give an investor an option to buy a stock later at a given strike price, and increase in value as the underlying asset rises in price. "I actually think AI is very, very real and could be every bit as impactful as the internet literally going forward," Druckenmiller said last year at the Sohn Investment Conference . "It could be a beautiful opportunity in a hard landing just like '01, '02 ... a beautiful opportunity when the tech bubble bursts. ... AI could be there." Druckenmiller once managed Soros' Quantum Fund and shot to fame after helping make a $10 billion bet against the British pound in 1992. He later oversaw $12 billion as president of Duquesne Capital Management before closing his firm in 2010. During the fourth quarter, the investor also added relatively small stakes in a host of other stocks, including Arista Networks , Woodward , Tempur Sealy, Flex Ltd , Barrick Gold and Marvell Technology .