Seth Klarman’s Baupost Loads Up On AMZN, GOOGL — Takes New Stake In Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square

Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group expanded several U.S.-listed equity positions during the second quarter, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings disclosed Thursday. Baupost established a nearly $13 million stake in Pershing Square Inc. (PS), Bill Ackman’s asset-management company. It also opened a nearly $137 million position in CME Group Inc. (CME), parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The firm increased its Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) holding by about 20% to 3.74 million shares valued at roughly $892 million, making Amazon Baupost’s largest disclosed equity holding. It raised its Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) stake by about 16% to approximately 1.37 million shares, worth nearly $490 million at the end of June. Baupost reduced its Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR) position by more than 16% to about 6.75 million shares valued at around $490 million. The filings provide only a quarter-end snapshot of Baupost’s U.S.-listed equity holdings and do not disclose short positions, limiting conclusions about the firm’s overall portfolio or net exposure. At the time of writing Friday afternoon, AMZN was down 0.65%, GOOGL had declined 0.42%, and PS was lower by 0.24%. Stocktwits retail sentiment was bearish for AMZN and GOOGL, with low message volume for both. Sentiment toward PS was bullish, while message volume was high. Year to date, GOOGL had gained nearly 11%, AMZN had risen 13.5%, and PS had advanced nearly 72%. The disclosures indicate increased exposure to large technology companies, a major exchange operator and Pershing Square’s public platform, alongside reduced exposure to Restaurant Brands.