- More than 14.2 million shares in LumiraDx are purchased by Bill Gates, making it his fourth-largest holding.
- During the third quarter, Gates reduces his holding in Atreca by more than 10,000 shares.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust are two of Bill Gates’ investment portfolios. For the purposes of this article, we will examine the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which invests a significant amount of money in stocks of companies engaged in biotechnology and the healthcare industry.
This fund has fewer holdings than the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, with only ten holdings, and four of those holdings account for more than two-thirds of the portfolio. Additionally, investing in biotechnology stocks carries a high risk of loss if the product fails to live up to expectations or the market rejects it.
This could be the rationale for Gates’ decision to separate his riskier biotech holdings from his more conservative portfolio (the trust), which holds stocks like Microsoft Corporation and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Unexpectedly, Gates reduced his ownership of Berkshire Hathaway and increased his stock purchases in Microsoft, making the latter his largest holding.
What Was Purchased?
Gates only acquired one stock in this portfolio, LumiraDx Ltd. LMDX, which accounted for 12% of the portfolio and is now his fourth-most-owned position.
A wide range of tests can be supported by the diagnostic platform that LumiraDx creates and sells at the point of care, with performance comparable to that of a lab.
What Was Traded?
During the third quarter, Gates reduced his holdings in Atreca Inc. BCEL by more than 10,000 shares. The biopharmaceutical business Atreca finds and creates innovative antibody-based immunotherapeutic to treat a variety of solid tumor types using its unique platform.
What Are The Top Three Positions?
All three of Gates’ most concentrated holdings are biotechnology firms with an emphasis on the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases.
During the first quarter of 2022, Gates bought more than 880,000 shares in Vir Biotechnology Inc. VIR, and he hasn’t bought any more since. Vir Biotechnology Inc currently has a 24% ownership position.
During the first quarter of 2021, Gates initiated a holding in Immunocore Holdings PLC – ADR IMCR, which has stayed constant ever since. Currently, Immunocore Holdings accounts for 21% of the portfolio’s value.
In the third quarter of 2021, Gates sold at least 890,000 shares of BioNTech SE – ADR BNTX, which was the top position in the second quarter of 2021 and represented 36% of the fund at that time. The third-most-owned investment by Gates today, accounting for 16% of the portfolio, is BioNTech.
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