Billionaire investor Peter Thiel's hedge fund, Thiel Macro, executed a significant portfolio shift in the third quarter of last year, divesting its entire stake in AI chip leader Nvidia and substantially reducing its holdings in Tesla. The capital was reallocated, with a notable new investment in Microsoft, signaling a strategic pivot in how the prominent tech figure is approaching the artificial intelligence market.
Key Takeaways
- Peter Thiel's fund, Thiel Macro, sold its entire position in Nvidia and over 200,000 shares of Tesla during the third quarter.
- The fund initiated a new position in Microsoft, purchasing nearly 50,000 shares.
- This move suggests a strategic shift from betting on AI hardware (Nvidia) to AI platforms and infrastructure (Microsoft Azure).
- Microsoft's Azure cloud platform has shown strong growth, benefiting from its neutral approach of offering multiple AI models to customers.
A Major Portfolio Reshuffle
Regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission provide a window into the strategies of major investment funds. The latest Form 13F from Thiel Macro, covering the period ending September 30, revealed some surprising changes that caught the attention of market watchers.
At the end of the second quarter, the fund held over 537,000 shares of Nvidia, a company at the epicenter of the AI boom. By the end of the third quarter, that position was reduced to zero. This complete divestment is particularly noteworthy given the widespread bullish sentiment surrounding the chipmaker's dominance in AI hardware.
Simultaneously, Thiel's fund dramatically cut its exposure to Tesla. Holdings in the electric vehicle manufacturer dropped from over 272,000 shares to just 65,000. This represents a reduction of more than 75% in the fund's position in a single quarter.
By the Numbers: Thiel's Q3 Moves
- Nvidia Shares Sold: Over 537,000
- Tesla Shares Sold: Approximately 207,000
- Microsoft Shares Purchased: Nearly 50,000
The New Focus on Microsoft and Apple
The capital from these sales did not exit the technology sector. Instead, it was redirected toward two of the world's largest tech companies: Microsoft and Apple. While the fund also took a new position in Apple, the investment in Microsoft appears to be a more direct continuation of Thiel's interest in the artificial intelligence space.
Thiel's investment history with Microsoft shows a pattern of tactical entries and exits. He held no shares at the end of 2024, acquired nearly 80,000 in the first quarter of 2025, sold them all in the second quarter, and then re-entered with a purchase of almost 50,000 shares in the third quarter.
"When a highly successful technology investor like Peter Thiel makes such a decisive move away from market darlings like Nvidia and into an established giant like Microsoft, it signals a deeper strategic belief about where the next phase of value creation in AI will occur."
This recurring interest suggests a strategic, rather than a passive, approach to the stock, likely tied to specific market conditions and valuations. Given that Microsoft's stock has seen some decline since September 30, the current entry point for new investors may be more favorable than the one Thiel utilized.
Why Microsoft's AI Strategy is Different
Unlike some competitors who are building their own proprietary large language models from the ground up, Microsoft has pursued a strategy centered on partnership and platform neutrality. This approach is most evident in its cloud computing division, Microsoft Azure.
The Azure Advantage
Microsoft's most significant move was its deep partnership with and investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The company owns an estimated 27% of OpenAI's for-profit arm and has integrated its technology across its product suite, including the Copilot AI assistant for Office, Windows, and the Bing search engine.
A Neutral AI Supermarket
Microsoft Azure isn't just a vehicle for OpenAI. It functions as a comprehensive platform where developers can access and build upon a wide array of AI models from different companies. This positions Microsoft not as a single competitor in the AI race, but as the essential infrastructure provider for many participants.
This strategy of being an AI facilitator is paying dividends. Azure's offerings include models from various leading AI firms:
- Anthropic's Claude
- xAI's Grok
- Meta's open-source Llama
- DeepSeek's cost-effective R1 model
By providing this diverse toolkit, Microsoft de-risks its AI strategy. It benefits from the overall growth of the AI software market, regardless of which specific model ultimately becomes the industry standard. This positioning helped Azure achieve an impressive 40% growth rate in the fiscal first quarter of 2026, which ended on September 30.
A Bet on Infrastructure Over Components
Thiel's pivot can be interpreted as a classic strategic bet on the providers of "picks and shovels" during a gold rush. While Nvidia provides the essential hardware (the picks) for the AI boom, Microsoft is building the foundational platform (the digital real estate and tools) where AI applications are developed and deployed.
This move suggests a belief that long-term, sustainable value in the AI sector may lie with the cloud platforms that become indispensable to developers and enterprises, rather than solely with the hardware manufacturers who face intense competition and cyclical market demands.
As the AI landscape continues to mature in 2026, the success of Microsoft's platform-centric approach will be a key indicator. If Azure maintains its powerful growth trajectory, Peter Thiel's third-quarter portfolio adjustment will likely be seen as a prescient move from one of tech's most-watched investors.