Leon Cooperman.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide for wealthy investors and consumers. Register to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Private investment firms of the ultra-rich closed out 2025 with bets on stocks ranging from airline stocks to Bitcoin ETFs, according to fourth-quarter securities filings analyzed by CNBC.
Some investments have made headlines. For example, Leon Cooperman’s family office, Omega Advisors, attracted attention last week by revealing that it had increased its stake in Manchester United last quarter. Omega Advisors’ shares in the publicly traded English soccer club are now worth $46.5 million, according to InsiderScore.
(Manchester fans who fear a takeover by the hedge fund billionaire can rest easy. Another filing revealing Cooperman’s 5.2% stake in the club indicated his stake was a passive investment.)
Although it generated less buzz, Omega Advisors’ biggest move last quarter was buying shares of a mortgage company worth more than $375 million. Rocket Companies. The new position now constitutes the company’s largest holding, valued at nearly $407 million, according to InsiderScore.
Some other measures taken by billion-dollar companies have already borne fruit. Appaloosa, the family office of David Tepper, tripled its position in Micron at $428.1 million, making it the company’s largest holding. Shares of Micron, which produces memory chips that power artificial intelligence data centers, have jumped about 50% since the start of 2026. During the same quarter, Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office initiated a new position in a fuel cell company. Flowering Energyup more than 100% since the start of the year.
Bets on cryptocurrencies have been less successful so far this year. WIT LLC, an investment vehicle for the Walton family’s eponymous family office, has allocated $4 million to iShares Bitcoin Trust ETFwhich has fallen 21% since the start of the year. The new position represents less than 1% of WIT’s portfolio. Kemnay Advisory Services of duty-free magnate Alan Parker has increased its shares by Coinbase by almost 44% in the last quarter. Shares of Coinbase are down 18% year to date.
Last quarter’s filings highlighted major investors’ divergent approaches to trading Mag 7. Duquesne, for example, increased its Amazon assets of 69% to approximately $170 million and left his Meta position. Meanwhile, Longbow SA, an investment company of the billionaire Rausing family, reduced its positions in Amazon, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet and meta.
Ray Dalio, who has repeatedly warned for months of an AI bubble and potential capital war, has taken a striking approach, according to Dalio’s latest Marino Management filing. The company disclosed a $438.5 million position in SPDR Gold Trust this represents almost 90% of its portfolio.
“I think people make the mistake of thinking, ‘Is this [gold] is going to go up and down, and should I buy it?'” Dalio told CNBC in early February. “Instead…maybe central banks or governments or sovereign wealth funds should say, ‘What percentage of my portfolio should I have in gold?’ [and] keep a certain percentage, as it is a very effective way of diversifying towards other poor parts of the portfolio.