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Investors have long observed the stock selections of Stanley Druckenmiller. The billionaire investor built his fortune in a fund he founded in 1981, Duquesne Capital Management. Although he closed that fund in 2010, he maintains about $3.4 billion in assets through his Duquesne Family Office LLC.

Druckenmiller's top holdings, as shown in the 13-F filing for the fourth quarter of 2023, appear to reflect an interest in leading companies in cutting-edge industries and technologies. Let's review three of them.

1. Nvidia

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is Druckenmiller's largest investment, accounting for just over 16% of his portfolio. As the leading producer of AI-enabled chips, it has achieved triple-digit revenue growth in recent quarters as companies scramble to buy the needed hardware to capitalize on the AI revolution.

Estimates on the degree of Nvidia's dominance vary, though most analysts agree that it controls at least 80% of the AI chip market.

Moreover, Nvidia has responded to AI chip competitors by releasing Blackwell. This combines six accelerated computing technologies into one product, offering similar functionality at 25 times less cost and energy consumption than its previous AI chip release.

Investors may also notice how Druckenmiller structures his Nvidia investment into two holdings. One is Nvidia stock, which is 9% of the overall portfolio.

However, Duquesne invested an additional 7% of the portfolio in Nvidia call options. These are highly leveraged investment products. Since they have an expiration date and can easily fall to $0, they are unsuitable for most investors. Also, the size of that investment may change significantly when the next 13-F release in May shows Druckenmiller's first-quarter 2024 holdings.

Nonetheless, the aggressiveness of that options investment implies a strong belief that Nvidia will rise significantly in the near term. That additional factor that could help persuade some investors to add Nvidia shares.

2. Microsoft

Duquesne bought Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock in the first quarter of 2014, around the time Satya Nadella became CEO. Although the fund was in and out of the stock over the years, the apparent bet on Nadella's leadership has paid off handsomely for Druckenmiller. The stock has risen by about 11-fold since Nadella became CEO.

Nadella transformed Microsoft into a cloud company as changing technologies and rising competition had made the dominance of Windows and Office less relevant. Its Azure platform has emerged as the primary competitor to Amazon's AWS, which spearheaded the cloud industry.

Additionally, the emergence of AI has furthered Microsoft's competitive advantage. AI relies heavily on the cloud to run applications, and its relationship with OpenAI has given Alphabet its first serious challenge to Google Search in years as Microsoft's Bing leverages this technology.

Today, Microsoft is again the world's largest company, with a market cap of about $3 trillion. That growth is likely a huge factor in it becoming 12% of the Duquesne portfolio. With AI becoming an essential technology, this investment should continue to move higher.

3. Coupang

Duquesne first bought Coupang (NYSE: CPNG) in the first quarter of 2021, likely around the time of its IPO in March of that year.

As the leading e-commerce company in South Korea, it is not as well-known to U.S. investors. However, it has stood out in the country with its end-to-end logistics network that can deliver anywhere in the country within hours. Additionally, it competes in e-commerce in Taiwan and operates a video streaming service.

Since the 2021 IPO, revenue has grown by double digits, and Coupang became profitable on an annual basis in 2023. Nonetheless, Druckenmiller may now regret his timing as he bought the stock at around the time of the IPO. Due to the steep declines during the 2022 bear market, the stock is down more than 50% since the IPO. Still, he has steadily added shares since then, and it makes up 11% of his portfolio.

The investment could eventually pay off. Analysts forecast 15% earnings growth this year and 110% in 2025. Also, at a $41 billion market capitalization, it is a small fraction of Amazon's $1.9 trillion size. That could give investors a second chance for those who missed the opportunity in Amazon.

As Coupang reinforces its dominance in South Korean e-commerce and develops new revenue sources, Druckenmiller could eventually be rewarded for his patience.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Will Healy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Coupang, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.