One of the most successful investors of all time, George Soros, became a billionaire through a daring bet which saw him short the British pound. The ‘man who broke the bank of England’ later repeated a similar maneuver with the Thai baht — and although currency trading is his claim to fame, he also maintains sizable positions in the equity markets.
The investor, a centerpiece of numerous conspiracy theories and a recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, has a pretty unique portfolio — even by the standards of his peers, Soros invests in numerous companies. Per his latest 13-F filing, his current portfolio has a whopping 177 holdings — for the purpose of comparison, Warren Buffett has only 40.
While it would be impractical to recreate this wide-spanning portfolio, a look into some of Soros’ biggest bets can provide insight into his rationale as we head into 2025. Here is how some of his biggest holdings performed in 2024.
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Here are three of Soros’ biggest stock bets
Smurfit WestRock (NYSE: SW) is a manufacturer of paper and corrugated product packaging. As surprising and unglamorous as it may sound, this is the billionaire’s largest equity holding — accounting for 4.9% of the total portfolio. The business went public on the New York Stock Exchange in July — since then, the price of SW stock has increased by 14.69%.
Soros’ second largest holding is AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN), representing 3% of the total portfolio. The maker of one of the most popular COVID-19 vaccines saw impressive gains during the pandemic — unfortunately, the business failed to capitalize on the one-time success.
AstraZeneca stock was trading at $66.64 at the beginning of 2024 — having reached a price of $65.52 by the end of the year, equating to a 1.68% decrease in price.
Finally, Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) is the billionaire’s third largest holding, representing 2.22% of his holdings. The aviation leasing company saw a 31.93% stock price increase in 2024.
Evenly split between the three, a $1,000 investment would have netted a 14.98% return — and would be worth $1,149. For reference, the S&P 500 returned 24.01% over the same period.
However, put options represent the largest holding in the entire portfolio — accounting for 18% of total holdings, and are valued at roughly $1,218,092,000. The puts account for roughly 2,123,000 shares — and represent either a significant hedge against a potential downturn or a bearish bet, but are certainly the most notable part of the portfolio.
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