Billionaire Philippe Laffont Has Sold Shares of Nvidia in 10 of the Last 11 Quarters -- What Does He Know That Wall Street Doesn't?

By Sean Williams – Mar 17, 2026 at 5:06AM ESTKey PointsArtificial intelligence (AI) is a multitrillion-dollar global opportunity being led by graphics processing unit (GPU) titan, Nvidia.Billionaire Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management has sold more than 40 million split-adjusted shares of Nvidia since March 31, 2023.While benign profit-taking probably explains some of this selling, there are potentially larger headwinds driving Laffont's exit.Roughly three decades ago, the advent and proliferation of the internet changed corporate America forever, as well as paved the way for the retail investor revolution. Investors have been waiting a long time for the next technological leap forward to meet or exceed what the internet did for businesses -- and artificial intelligence (AI) has answered the call. Artificial intelligence is a multitrillion-dollar global opportunity that's currently being led by Wall Street's largest publicly traded company, Nvidia (NVDA +1.63%). Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) are the brains that make AI-accelerated data centers tick. Image source: Getty Images.

Billionaire Philippe Laffont has been a persistent seller of Nvidia stock Despite Nvidia's jaw-dropping growth rate, the superior compute capabilities of its GPUs, and its otherworldly cash flow, billionaire Phillippe Laffont of Coatue Management has been a seller of its shares in 10 of the last 11 quarters (April 1, 2023 – Dec. 31, 2025). All share counts below have been adjusted for Nvidia's 10-for-1 stock split in June 2024. Q1 2023: 49,802,020 shares held Q2 2023: 46,449,700 shares (-3,352,320) Q3 2023: 45,410,400 shares (-1,039,300) Q4 2023: 43,222,010 shares (-2,188,390) Q1 2024: 13,851,410 shares (-29,370,600) Q2 2024: 13,754,447 shares (-96,963) Q3 2024: 10,138,161 shares (-3,616,286) Q4 2024: 10,006,488 shares (-131,673) Q1 2025: 8,545,835 shares (-1,460,653) Q2 2025: 11,488,529 shares (+2,942,694) Q3 2025: 9,870,743 shares (-1,617,786) Q4 2025: 9,203,338 shares (-667,405) The big question is, "Why?" Does Laffont know something about Nvidia that the rest of Wall Street doesn't? Image source: Nvidia. Profit-taking is likely only part of the story Some of Laffont's selling likely boils down to benign profit-taking. Since initially building a mammoth stake in Nvidia during the third quarter of 2022 (i.e., the height of the 2022 bear market), shares of the company have surged by more than 1,200%! Historically, Coatue Management's boss has shown a willingness to lock in significant gains when given the opportunity. But profit-taking probably isn't the whole story. For one, history hasn't proven all that kind to game-changing technologies over the last three decades. Every next-big-thing trend has endured an early innings bubble-bursting event that came about because investors overestimated the adoption and/or optimization of a new technology. Even though businesses are spending big on AI infrastructure (i.e., no issues with adoption), it'll likely be years before these same companies are optimizing AI solutions. If an AI bubble forms and subsequently bursts, Nvidia would undoubtedly be hit. ExpandNASDAQ: NVDANvidiaToday's Change(1.63%) $2.94Current Price$183.19Key Data PointsMarket Cap$4.5TDay's Range$181.42 - $188.8852wk Range$86.62 - $212.19Volume8.8MAvg Vol177MGross Margin71.07%Dividend Yield0.02% Laffont may also be concerned about the prospect of increasing GPU competition. While no external competitors are particularly close to rivaling Nvidia's data center hardware, many of its top customers by net sales are internally developing chips for their data centers. Despite being slower than Nvidia's GPUs, these internally developed chips are cheaper and more readily available. That's potentially bad news for Nvidia's pricing power and gross margin. Lastly, Coatue's billionaire boss might have lingering trade concerns. China's unwillingness to purchase Nvidia's revamped H200 GPUs, coupled with the seemingly ever-changing tariff and trade landscape under President Donald Trump, paints an unpredictable picture for a company whose price-to-sales ratio intimates it's priced for perfection. While billionaire Philippe Laffont doesn't have access to privileged information, his persistent selling at Coatue is a stark reminder that even Wall Street's most influential businesses face headwinds.Read NextMar 17, 2026 •By Trevor JennewineNvidia Stock vs. Micron Stock: Billionaires Buy One and Sell the OtherMar 16, 2026 •By Keithen DruryIs Nvidia Stock a Buy?Mar 16, 2026 •By Neil PatelWhat Is 1 of the Best AI Stocks to Own for the Next 10 Years?Mar 16, 2026 •By Johnny RiceWhy Nvidia Stock Just Dropped After Jumping Nearly 5%Mar 16, 2026 •By Danny Vena, CPANvidia Investors Just Got Incredible News from CEO Jensen Huang: 2 Highlights from GTCMar 16, 2026 •By Geoffrey SeilerWhat Are 3 Great Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now?About the AuthorSean Williams is a data-driven Motley Fool contributing analyst who's been investing for 27 years and has penned north of 15,000 articles. You'll find him at the intersection of politics and investing tackling macroeconomic topics of interest (Social Security and Donald Trump's economic/tax policies), analyzing which stocks billionaire investors (e.g., Warren Buffett) are buying and selling, and digging into how the world's most-influential businesses and trends -- everything from the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) to the next stock split -- are changing Wall Street. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.TMFUltraLongX@AMCScamStocks MentionedNvidiaNASDAQ: NVDA$183.19(+1.63%)+$2.94*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.