NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- There are stocks billionaires like, and then there are those they love. And they demonstrate their affections by investing millions -- and billions -- of dollars in them.
The top holdings of billionaire hedge fund magnates like
Carl Icahn,
Bill Ackman and
Warren Buffett tell a lot about the investors themselves. Signaling their most significant conviction picks in the equity markets, the investments can provide insights into the strategies and perceptions of each. They are also often the source of some pretty interesting backstories.
So where are
billionaires placing the biggest of their big bets, and what are the narratives behind them?
Here is the look at the favorite stocks of 20 of Wall Street's best and just how much they've invested in each.
1. Warren Buffett -- Wells Fargo, $25.6 Billion
Warren Buffett's love affair with
Wells Fargo (WFC - Get Report) stretches across decades. In his
1990 letter to
Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A) (BRK.B) shareholders, the Oracle of Omaha revealed his firm had increased its ownership in Wells Fargo to just under 10% -- the most it was allowed to own without the approval of the Federal Reserve. He called WFC "a superbly-managed, high-return banking operation."
Twenty-five years later, Buffett continues betting on Wells Fargo. In fact, in the first quarter of 2015, he upped his stake in the firm for the first time in nearly two years. Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway today own 9.5% of all of Wells Fargo's outstanding shares.
2. Carl Icahn -- Icahn Enterprises, $9.8 Billion
As IEP's chairman, Icahn earns an annual salary of just $1; however, he is by no means hurting for cash. The billionaire owns nearly 90% of all of Icahn Enterprises' outstanding shares, and the company has done well. According to a May 2015 investor presentation reported by
ValueWalk, IEP has produced a total return of 1,485% since January 1, 2000.
3. Ray Dalio -- Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF, $4.6 Billion
Ray Dalio's public equity portfolio is
largely allocated to just three ETFs, with his most significant stake being the
Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (VWO). The FTSE Emerging Index it tracks is comprised of more than 900 emerging-market stocks from countries like China, Taiwan, India, Brazil and South Africa.
The founder of the world's largest hedge fund,
Bridgewater Associates, Dalio employs a global macro style of investing. He and his team look for overarching economic trends, and apparently, emerging markets is an area about which they're optimistic. You can get a glimpse of Dalio's approach to the markets in a 30-minute video he put together,
How the Economic Machine Works.
4. Bill Ackman -- Valeant, $3.9 Billion
In early 2014, Bill Ackman and pharmaceutical giant
Valeant (VRX - Get Report) teamed up in a bid to take over
Allergan (AGN). But when the Botox maker
agreed instead to be bought by
Actavis (ACT) in November, many thought the Ackman-Valeant affair was over. In fact, it was anything but.
In March, Ackman's
Pershing Square revealed it had purchased a 5% stake in Valeant Pharmaceuticals, making it the Canadian drug company's fifth-largest shareholder. His latest regulatory filing revealed his position to be valued at $3.9 billion. And Bill Ackman appears to really believe in Valeant. In early May, he went as far as to
suggest the company could be the next
Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A) (BRK.B) .
5. John Paulson -- Shire, $2 Billion
Six months ago, John Paulson was likely singing a very different tune on
Shire (SHPG) than he is today. The billionaire took a big hit in October 2014 when a merger deal between Shire and
AbbVie (ABBV) fell through. And
his subsequent push to get Allergan (now acquired by
Actavis (ACT)) to pick up Shire failed as well. But if you don't succeed, try, try again -- or in John Paulson's case, just keep investing.
Shire has proven one of Paulson's
best M&A bets of the year, and though it hasn't been acquired, it has been acquiring. It
picked upNPS Pharmaceuticals in February, and its stock has enjoyed a solid climb of more than 20% in 2015.
6. Nelson Peltz -- DuPont, $1.8 Billion
Nelson Peltz's relationship with his top stock pick, chemical company
DuPont (DD), is contentious. After engaging in a months-long proxy battle to get four seats on its board and push for a breakup, Peltz
conceded defeat in May.
However, the activist investor at the helm of
Trian Fund Management isn't throwing in the towel on DuPont just yet. "We believe we can make DuPont great again,"
he told CNBC in an interview after losing the shareholder vote for board seats. "Whatever the results we're proud of the role we've played as a positive change agent."
7. Dan Loeb -- Amgen, $1.6 Billion
Dan Loeb began testing the waters on
Amgen (AMGN) during the second quarter of 2014 with the purchase of about 450,000 shares. But by December, he had amped up his stake in a big way, and as of the end of the first quarter of 2015, he holds 10 million Amgen shares, valued at $1.6 billion.
Loeb has dedicated numerous paragraphs to the biotech company in his
quarterly letters to
Third Point investors. In his
third quarter communication, he called Amgen a "pioneer in the biotechnology industry" and said that its long-term underperformance relative to its peers was "surprising." By the time his
fourth quarter letter came out in February, the landscape on Amgen was looking quite bright to Loeb, who admitted the company was his biggest winner of 2014.
8. Steve Mandel -- Priceline, $1.5 Billion
Steve Mandel isn't the most vocal billionaire investor, and his hedge fund,
Lone Pine Capital, often flies under the radar as well. Lately, the firm has given a few indications of where it thinks the market is headed, but it hasn't had much to say about its top pick,
Priceline (PCLN).
9. Bruce Berkowitz -- AIG, $1.3 Billion
Bruce Berkowitz halved his stake in
AIG (AIG) in the first quarter of the year; however, the insurance company remains the top holding in his public equity portfolio.
In his
annual letter to
Fairholme Capital Management investors, Berkowitz called AIG the fund's locomotive and commended the company's 25% quarterly dividend increase and $3.4 billion stock buyback program. "If management is able to deliver underwriting margins and expense efficiencies consistent with its peer group, then the company's book value and stock price will meaningfully increase," he wrote. "We shall soon see."
10. Larry Robbins -- Monsanto, $1.1 Billion
Larry Robbins likes what he sees at
Monsanto (MON). He began building a stake in agricultural products company in the fourth quarter of 2013 and has consistently added to it since. As of the end of the first quarter, his position is valued at $1.1 billion.
Robbins discussed his Monsanto thesis in a
May interview with Bloomberg. "One of the things that attracted us to Monsanto was that their management and board identified that they were building up too much cash on the balance sheet, started to buy back stock at a more accelerated rate, have already set forth a timeframe for review of their capital structure. And so they're asking all the right questions," he said. In a February interview with
CNBC, he said Monsanto's business characteristics lead him to believe it should be "levered 2 ½, four times."
11. Edward Lampert - Sears Holdings, $1.1 Billion
Edward Lampert took over as CEO of
Sears Holdings (SHLD) in 2013 and has worked to turn the retailer around ever since, garnering mixed results.
The billionaire has raised billions of dollars at Sears since taking over by spinning off assets, leasing out space and selling off stores. In a May 6
blog post, he discussed his measures and what lies ahead. "As important as it is to have a good plan and adapt to changing circumstances, you also need to find the resources to effect the transformation," he wrote, explaining that he hopes the $2.4 billion generated in 2014 will drive Sears' transformation forward at a faster pace.
12. David Einhorn -- Apple, $925.4 Million
Einhorn's stake in Apple dates back to the second quarter of 2010. His holdings peaked in 2013, when he reported over 16 million shares. As of his most recent holdings disclosure, he holds 7.4 million. But even though he has scaled back his position in the tech giant, it remains his top public equity holding, and his hopes remain high. "We believe that AAPL is a superior company that merits a premium multiple," he wrote in his first quarter letter to investors.
What a difference 25 years of economic stagnation make. Japan's economy has contracted so often during the last few years alone, it's hard to keep track of its seesawing fortunes. Signs are now emerging that the country's gross domestic product may have declined again in the third quarter, dragged down by the flagging economy of China.
