Billionaire Seth Klarman bets on Amazon – cuts back on Google

American billionaire investor Seth Klarman is widely regarded as one of the world’s most successful and respected fund managers.

With a career spanning over three decades, Klarman has built a reputation as a disciplined and value-driven investor.

He is known for his rigorous research process, long-term investment horizon, and focus on risk management.

Born in 1957, Klarman attended Cornell University and later Harvard Business School, where he studied under legendary value investor Benjamin Graham.

After graduating, he worked briefly for Mutual Shares before founding his own investment firm, The Baupost Group, in 1982.

Over the years, Baupost has grown into one of the world’s largest and most successful hedge funds, with over $30 billion in assets under management.

Despite his remarkable track record, Klarman remains relatively unknown outside investment circles. He eschews publicity and rarely grants interviews.

Klarman’s investment philosophy is rooted in the teachings of Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing.

He believes that a margin of safety is essential for any investment and that it is possible to find undervalued securities in any market environment.

Klarman is also known for his long-term approach to investing, often holding positions for several years and waiting for the market to recognise the underlying value of his investments.

This approach has paid off in spades for Klarman and his investors. Since the founding of The Baupost Group in 1982, the firm has achieved an annualised return of 19%.

The firm’s success has been driven by Klarman’s ability to identify opportunities where others see risk and his willingness to hold positions for extended periods.

The Baupost Group’s portfolio

In the second quarter of 2023, Klarman added three new shares to the Baupost Group portfolio – Amazon, Dollar General, Union Pacific and CRH.

The firm sold its entire stake in Amazon in Q1 2023 but bought around $125.66 million of the tech giant’s shares in Q2.

The company reduced its stake in Google-owner Alphabet by almost 30%, but it still comprises 9% of Baupost’s portfolio.

The table below shows how the Baupost Group portfolio changed in Q2 2023 –

Stock	% of portfolio	Activity	Value
LBTYK – Liberty Global Inc. C	14.46	Reduce 5.26%	$799,727,000
VSAT – Viasat Inc.	12.15	No change	$672,082,000
GOOG – Alphabet Inc. CL C	9.01	Reduce 29.60%	$498,370,000
LSXMK – Liberty SiriusXM Series C	8.79	No change	$486,075,000
VRTV – Veritiv Corp.	7.55	No change	$417,568,000
FIS – Fidelity National Information Services	6.70	Add 39.93%	$370,593,000
WBD – Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.	5.72	No change	$316,448,000
LSXMA – Liberty Sirius XM Series A	4.85	No change	$268,309,000
QRVO – Qorvo Inc.	4.83	Reduce 43.70%	$267,084,000
SSNC – SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc.	4.08	Add 13.62%	$225,458,000
WTW – Willis Towers Watson plc	3.84	Add 5.09%	$212,507,000
GTX – Garrett Motion Inc.	3.57	Add 629.25%	$197,354,000
EDU – New Oriental Education & Technology	2.94	Reduce 23.99%	$162,651,000
AMZN – Amazon.com Inc.	2.27	Buy	$125,660,000
LBTYA – Liberty Global Inc.	2.19	No change	$121,295,000
JAZZ – Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc	1.51	Add 40.74%	$83,518,000
TBPH – Theravance Biopharma Inc.	1.39	Reduce 28.79%	$76,789,000
DG – Dollar General	0.74	Buy	$41,087,000
STX – Seagate Technology	0.67	Add 340.93%	$37,122,000
UNP – Union Pacific	0.65	Buy	$35,809,000
GTN – Gray Television Inc.	0.54	No change	$29,629,000
HLF – Herbalife Nutrition Ltd.	0.47	No change	$25,874,000
ADV – Advantage Solutions Inc.	0.45	Reduce 3.18%	$24,924,000
ATRA – Atara Biotherapeutics Inc.	0.28	Add 7.12%	$15,736,000
ATUS – Altice USA, Inc.	0.26	No change	$14,419,000
CRH – CRH plc	0.06	Buy	$3,151,000
TMQ – Trilogy Metals Inc.	0.04	Reduce 20.24%	$2,022,000
FNCH – Finch Therapeutics Group Inc.	0.01	Reduce 0.01%	$574,000