How billionaire family offices bet on stocks during tariff turmoil
Key Takeaways
Private investment firms of Leon Cooperman and other finance billionaires disclosed surprising stock moves.
Article Overview
Quick insights and key information
3 min read
Estimated completion
investment
Article classification
August 21, 2025
05:28 PM
CNBC
Original publisher
In this articleLVS your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTLeon Cooperman on CNBC's "Halftime Report."Scott Mlyn | CNBCA version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.Family offices are known to invest for the long haul, sometimes for generations
But after President Donald Trump's tariff announcements in April, the family offices of billionaire investors were quick to make significant changes to their portfolios, according to second-quarter securities filings analyzed by CNBC.Some moves were ly connected to tariff and recession fears
In the three months June 30, the family offices of David Tepper, Leon Cooperman and George Soros exited their positions in casino stock Las Vegas Sands Corp
Casino operator s tumbled on fears that a U.S.-China trade war would endanger their Macao operations.However, some firms dialed back their exposure to stalwart stocks, with Cooperman's Omega Advisors exiting its Microsoft position and reducing its Alphabet stock by nearly 90%
Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office sold down 37 positions, including Amazon and a half dozen pharmaceutical stocks.Cooperman told CNBC in June that he thought the stock market was too confident given uncertainties with tariffs and conflicts in the Middle East."I'm not a big bear, but I'm not a big bull either," he said on "Squawk Box."Institutional investment managers — including family offices and hedge funds — that manage at least $100 million in certain securities, especially U.S.-listed equities, are required to disclose trades on a quarterly basis
While many family offices have stock portfolios worth well over $100 million, they do not have to file these 13F forms if they outsource investment decisions to a third party JPMorgan or Bessemer Trust, according to lawyer David Guin, a partner at Withers who leads its U.S. corporate practice.Not all the moves were related to bigger geopolitical concerns
Despite concerns tariffs on semiconductors, family offices boosted their Nvidia holdings
Tepper's Appaloosa Management increased its Nvidia holdings by nearly 500%
Soros Fund Management purchased 932,000 -equivalents in Nvidia, including options.Get Inside Wealth directly to your inboxThe Inside Wealth by Robert Frank is your weekly guide to high-net-worth investors and the industries that serve them. here to get access today
In another artificial intelligence play, several firms boosted their bets on other chipmakers, with Appaloosa buying 8 million s of Intel and 755,000 s of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co
Duquesne and Soros also increased their positions in TSMC.Omega Advisors doubled down on energy viders, which are poised to benefit from AI's energy demands, including Atlas Energy Solutions, Sunoco and Energy Transfer LP.As family offices have long investment horizons, they can afford to be opportunistic and wait for stocks to rebound
Appaloosa bought 2.3 million s in UnitedHealth Group, which suffered a 19% sell-off in April after the insurer cut its annual fit forecast
Tepper's hedge-fund-turned-family-office also bought new stakes in United Airlines and Delta Air Lines even as recession fears threw airline stocks for a loop.Some of Appaloosa's peers made similar bold bets, with Soros Fund Management and BlueCrest Capital Management, the family office of British hedge fund billionaire Michael Platt, also increasing its exposure to UnitedHealth
BlueCrest also started new positions in Delta and United.— CNBC's Nick Wells contributed to this report.watch now3:1703:17$300 million megayacht up for auctionSquawk Box
Related Articles
More insights from FinancialBooklet