Billionaires’ AI Stock Pick Surprises All

Artificial intelligence has been the talk of Wall Street for years, like a party guest who refuses to leave. PwC estimates AI could generate $15.7 trillion by 2030-enough to buy every person on Earth a latte, assuming lattes are still a thing in 2030. But as with any party, not everyone will leave with a free drink ticket. Billionaire money managers, those financial magicians with a knack for spotting bubbles before they pop, have made their preferences clear: they’re not exactly fans of the usual suspects.

Consider Nvidia and Palantir, two AI darlings whose stock prices have soared like popcorn in a microwave. Since 2023, Nvidia’s shares have jumped 1,150%, and Palantir’s have leaped 2,810%. But here’s the twist: billionaire investors have been quietly cashing out, as if they’ve smelled the smoke before the fire alarm goes off.

Quarterly 13F filings-those dry, bureaucratic reports that reveal what Wall Street’s big players are buying and selling-tell a story of caution. Stanley Druckenmiller of Duquesne Family Office and Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital have entirely exited their Nvidia stakes. David Tepper and Philippe Laffont, other billionaire heavyweights, have trimmed their positions significantly. For Palantir, Druckenmiller’s move was particularly decisive, as if he’d just realized the punchline to a joke he’d been telling himself for years.

Why the exodus? History, as it often does, offers a mirror. The dot-com bubble, the internet gold rush, and now AI: humans have a knack for overestimating the immediate impact of shiny new technologies. We’re like kids who see a fire truck and assume it’s there to give free candy. When reality fails to match hype, valuations crash. Nvidia’s price-to-sales ratio of 30 isn’t exactly a red flag, but it’s the kind of number that makes investors wince. Palantir’s 137? That’s more like a dare. No company, not even one with “Gotham” in its platform name, has ever sustained such a valuation without a hiccup.

Yet amid this cautionary tale, one company has emerged as the darling of billionaire investors: Meta Platforms. It’s not just a top holding for fund managers like Chase Coleman and Terry Smith; it’s a full-blown love affair. Four billionaires list Meta as their largest position, and others pile in with enthusiasm. Why? Because while Meta may still be an advertising company at heart, it’s using AI like a chef uses salt-sparingly but effectively.

Meta’s secret sauce? A daily active user base of 3.48 billion people-roughly the population of a small planet. Businesses pay handsomely to reach them, and AI is now the sous-chef helping Meta cook up more targeted ads. In June, the company blew past revenue forecasts, proving that its AI investments aren’t just vaporware. And with $47 billion in cash on hand, Meta isn’t just playing it safe; it’s playing with house money.

Mark Zuckerberg’s long-term vision for the metaverse adds another layer of intrigue. It’s the kind of moonshot that makes investors squint, but Meta’s track record of turning slow-burn ideas into cash cows (remember Facebook’s early days?) gives billionaires pause. Plus, at a forward P/E of 25.8, Meta isn’t exactly asking investors to hand over their life savings. It’s more like a polite request for a loan, with a side of confidence.

As someone who once thought SEO was a type of coffee, I can appreciate the bewilderment surrounding AI stocks. But if billionaires are betting on Meta, it’s not just because they’re rich and eccentric. It’s because they’ve seen this movie before-and they’re not eager to buy tickets to the collapse. 📈

2025-08-13 10:26

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