Palantir Billionaire Peter Thiel Ditches Nvidia & Tesla Bets - Pours Fortune Into Microsoft (MSFT) AI Dominance Play
One of Silicon Valley's most feared investors just made a seismic portfolio shift—and it's all about artificial intelligence.
The AI Kingmaker's New Bet
Peter Thiel, the Palantir co-founder and venture capital legend, has executed a dramatic exit from two of this decade's most celebrated tech stocks. He's completely closed his positions in Nvidia, the semiconductor powerhouse, and Tesla, the electric vehicle pioneer. The capital? Redeployed entirely into Microsoft, solidifying the software giant as his singular mega-cap AI wager.
Why Microsoft Wins the War for Intelligence
Forget just chips or cars—Thiel's move signals a belief that the real value accrues to the platform owner. Microsoft, with its Azure cloud infrastructure, OpenAI partnership, and Copilot ecosystem embedded across enterprise software, isn't just playing in AI. It's building the operating system for the next industrial revolution. Thiel isn't betting on a toolmaker; he's backing the landlord of the digital factory floor.
A Cynical Take on Wall Street's AI Frenzy
Let's be real—this also reeks of a classic 'smart money' pivot from crowded trades. After the street spent two years chanting 'NVDA' and 'TSLA' like mantras, Thiel's exit is a cold splash of water. It's the ultimate contrarian play: selling the narrative everyone already owns to buy the infrastructure narrative they're all forced to use. Sometimes the biggest AI alpha doesn't come from building the rocket, but from owning the launchpad and charging rent.
The bottom line? When a billionaire known for seeing around corners makes a binary bet this concentrated, the market pays attention. The message is clear: in the AI arms race, Microsoft isn't just a contender—it's the arsenal.
TLDR
- Peter Thiel’s hedge fund Thiel Macro sold its entire Nvidia position and 76% of its Tesla stake in Q3
- Thiel started a new position in Microsoft, which now represents 34% of his fund’s invested assets
- Microsoft reported fiscal Q4 2025 earnings of $3.65 per share on $76.44 billion revenue, up 18% year-over-year
- Azure cloud revenue grew 39% year-over-year, reaching $46.7 billion in the quarter
- Microsoft stock trades around $473, down 2% from previous close, with market cap near $3.5 trillion
Peter Thiel made waves in Q3 by dumping his entire Nvidia stake and slashing Tesla holdings by 76%. The Palantir co-founder and hedge fund manager then loaded up on Microsoft. The new position now accounts for 34% of Thiel Macro’s portfolio.
Microsoft Corporation, MSFT
The MOVE raises eyebrows given Microsoft’s already massive gains. The stock has returned about 483,000% since its March 1986 IPO. Yet Thiel appears confident the tech giant has more room to run.
Microsoft currently trades around $473 per share. That’s down roughly 2% from the previous close. The stock sits well above its 52-week low of $345 but below its recent peak NEAR $555.
Thiel’s exit from Nvidia comes despite the chipmaker’s dominance. Nvidia controls over 80% of the AI accelerator market. The company’s GPUs remain the Gold standard for AI training and inference workloads.
Competition from Broadcom and Marvell may have spooked Thiel. Both companies designed custom AI chips for tech giants like Alphabet and Amazon. Export restrictions preventing Nvidia sales in China could also be a factor.
President TRUMP recently said Nvidia could sell H200 GPUs in China. That could provide an unexpected boost for the chipmaker.
Microsoft’s AI Monetization Push
Microsoft is leveraging its enterprise software empire to cash in on AI. The company added generative AI copilots across its product lineup. That includes office productivity tools, cybersecurity software, and development platforms.
Monthly active users hit 150 million in September. That’s up from 100 million just three months earlier. CEO Satya Nadella continues pushing AI integration across the Microsoft ecosystem.
Azure ranks as the second-largest cloud provider. The platform gained roughly 3 percentage points of market share since ChatGPT launched in late 2022. Data center capacity constraints held back even faster growth.
Microsoft is now rapidly expanding data center capacity. Morgan Stanley’s latest CIO Survey names Azure as the cloud provider most likely to gain share over the next three years.
Strong Fiscal Results Drive Confidence
The company delivered blockbuster fiscal Q4 2025 results. Earnings reached $3.65 per share on revenue of $76.44 billion. That represents 24% and 18% year-over-year growth respectively.
Cloud revenue hit $46.7 billion in the quarter. Azure posted 39% year-over-year growth. Management guided for mid-teens revenue growth and high-30s Azure expansion into the next quarter.
Microsoft’s market cap sits at roughly $3.5 trillion. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio in the mid-30s. That premium valuation reflects expectations for continued AI and cloud growth.
Wall Street estimates adjusted earnings will grow 16% annually through fiscal 2027. Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive. Most ratings fall in the Buy category with price targets implying upside from current levels.
Microsoft topped consensus earnings estimates by an average of 8% over the last four quarters. The company has beaten expectations consistently. Strong execution continues backing up the growth story.
Recent after-hours trading briefly pushed Microsoft’s valuation above $4 trillion. That placed the company alongside Nvidia as an ultra-mega-cap AI leader.
Management guided for mid-teens revenue growth and high-30s Azure growth into the next quarter, with cloud revenue reaching $46.7 billion in fiscal Q4 2025.