Billionaire Seth Klarman cuts Google
In the last quarter of 2023, billionaire investor Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group reduced its stake in Google-owner Alphabet and sold seven other companies.
This was revealed in Klarman’s 13F Filing with the SEC, a quarterly requirement for investors managing over $100 million.
Klarman is the founder and CEO of Baupost, the investment company he started in 1982.
Klarman has made a name for himself as a value investor, an investment philosophy often attributed to Benjamin Graham and made famous by Warren Buffett.
Klarman’s risk-averse style places emphasis on maintaining a margin of safety. In 1991, he authored the book “Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor”.
In the four decades since it was founded, the Baupost Group has become one of the largest hedge funds in the world.
It has consistently delivered an impressive annual average return of 15%, amassing $25 billion in assets under management.
Through his role at Baupost, Klarman has amassed a substantial $1.3 billion personal net worth.
Seth Klarman’s portfolio
In the final quarter of 2023, the Baupost portfolio’s value fell from $5.21 billion to $4.59 billion.
Klarman’s portfolio is heavily concentrated around five corporations that comprise roughly 62% of total holdings – namely, Liberty Global, Liberty SiriusXM, Viasat, Alphabet and Fidelity National Information Services.
Baupost made considerable changes to its portfolio in the final quarter of 2023, adding to its stake in three companies and reducing its stake in another eight.
The firm increased its stake in Clarivate by 13.33%, in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 23.75% and in Jacobs Solutions by 49.20%.
Baupost decreased his stake in Alphabet by 23.02%, selling around 882,000 shares.
The firm also disposed of its stakes in eight companies, including Dollar General, Qorvo, New Oriental Education and Seagate Technology.
Baupost made no changes to his two top holdings – Liberty Global and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Baupost Group portfolio
The table below shows Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group’s share portfolio on 31 December 2023.
| Company | Percent of portfolio | Change | Value |
| Liberty Global Ltd. | 17.20 | No change | $788,677,000 |
| Viasat Inc. | 9.86 | No change | $452,087,000 |
| Liberty SiriusXM Series C | 9.32 | No change | $427,413,000 |
| Alphabet Inc. | 9.07 | Reduce 23.02% | $415,678,000 |
| Fidelity National Information Services | 8.33 | Reduce 8.61% | $382,088,000 |
| Willis Towers Watson plc | 8.18 | No change | $375,227,000 |
| Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. | 6.26 | No change | $287,175,000 |
| Clarivate plc | 5.15 | Add 13.33% | $236,130,000 |
| Liberty Sirius XC Series A | 5.13 | No change | $235,026,000 |
| CRH plc | 5.05 | No change | $231,378,000 |
| Liberty Global Ltd CL A | 2.79 | No change | $127,842,000 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc | 2.24 | Add 23.75% | $102,545,000 |
| Jacobs Solutions Inc. | 2.06 | Add 49.20% | $94,467,000 |
| Theravance Biopharma Inc. | 1.82 | No change | $83,392,000 |
| Tower Semiconductor Ltd. | 1.80 | Reduce 4.88% | $82,735,000 |
| Liberty Media Corp. Series A Live | 1.51 | Reduce 4.02% | $69,428,000 |
| SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. | 1.37 | Reduce 55.25% | $62,854,000 |
| Gray Television Inc. | 0.73 | No change | $33,690,000 |
| Garrett Motion Inc. | 0.63 | Reduce 49.99% | $28,955,000 |
| Liberty Media Corp. Series C Live | 0.59 | Reduce 62.25% | $26,856,000 |
| Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. | 0.56 | Reduce 0.80% | $25,634,000 |
| Altice USA, Inc. | 0.34 | No change | $15,517,000 |
| Finch Therapeutics Group Inc. | 0.01 | No change | $243,000 |
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