Key Takeaways:
Norway's $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund posted a record $184.9 billion first-half profit on a chip-driven rally while revealing a $1.2 billion SpaceX stake.
Norway's $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund posted a record $184.9 billion first-half profit as Asian technology stocks rallied, while disclosing a first-time 0.05 percent stake in SpaceX worth $1.2 billion.
"The result is driven by good returns in the equity market, particularly from Asian technology stocks," Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, said in a statement Wednesday.
The fund returned 9.4 percent in Norwegian crowns, 0.22 percentage points above its benchmark index. Equities rose 13.0 percent while fixed income added 0.9 percent, with equity holdings accounting for 72.1 percent of the portfolio. Nvidia remains the top holding at $61.8 billion, followed by Apple at $52.7 billion and Microsoft at $35 billion. The fund's TSMC stake surged nearly 48 percent in value to $33.5 billion.
The record result — more than double last year's first-half profit — cements the fund's position as the world's largest single stock investor, holding about 1.5 percent of all listed companies globally. But Tangen warned Tuesday that the fund could lose its entire value, calling that outcome "fairly likely" in current conditions.
Tangen described semiconductors as the core driver of the portfolio's first-half growth, citing "chips, chips, chips, chips" when presenting a chart of top performers that included Samsung, SK Hynix, TSMC, ASML, Intel, and Nvidia. The fund's 1.3 percent stake in Nvidia alone is worth $61.8 billion.
The path was uneven. Equity holdings dropped 2.6 percent in the first quarter as concerns over AI prospects and US-Iran war fears weighed on markets, then rebounded 15.98 percent in the second quarter as chipmakers rallied. The fund's value reached 22.683 trillion crowns ($2.39 trillion) as of June 30, up 1.416 trillion crowns ($149 billion) from a year earlier.
The fund was established in the 1990s to invest revenues from Norway's oil and gas industry. It now holds stakes in more than 7,000 companies across more than 50 countries, with about 40 percent of the portfolio in U.S. equities. Telecommunications, technology, and energy delivered the strongest equity returns in the first half.
The SpaceX position, valued at just over $1.2 billion, marks the fund's first public disclosure of exposure to Elon Musk's space company. It makes NBIM a shareholder in both of Musk's listed companies — the fund also holds about 1 percent of Tesla, worth roughly $15.7 billion.
The relationship has been tense. NBIM voted against Musk's $56 billion Tesla compensation package in 2024 and rejected his trillion-dollar proposal at the carmaker's late 2025 shareholder meeting, citing dilution and key person risk. Musk responded to the first vote with a text message later released under Norway's freedom of information law: "When I ask you for a favor, which I very rarely do, and you decline, then you should not ask me for one until you've done something above nothing to make amends. Friends are as friends do."
Deputy CEO Trond Grande declined to discuss how the SpaceX weighting had changed, saying the fund "was roughly index rate in the first half, and that's been the case over the summer as well." That suggests the fund did not actively pick SpaceX but owns what the index hands it.
SpaceX stock has been volatile since its June IPO, listing at $150 against a $135 offer price, peaking near $225, then sinking below $107 before reclaiming its IPO price this week. Tangen shrugged at the swings, noting the fund owns 7,000 companies that move in both directions daily.
The fund's indirect Bitcoin exposure through equity stakes climbed 83 percent between mid-2024 and mid-2025, though it holds no Bitcoin directly. Earlier this month, NBIM told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it opposes the agency's proposal to scrap climate-related risk disclosure requirements.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
