Bill Gates Owns Billions in This Secret AI Player Up Nearly 183% in a Year, and It’s Not Microsoft

The article highlights a major 13F disclosure: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust holds 6.35M Caterpillar shares (~$3.64B), signaling patient-capital exposure to AI-related infrastructure rather than just software. Caterpillar (CAT) has surged — up 183% over the past year and 59% YTD — supported by strong Q1 2026 results (revenue $17.415B, EPS $5.54) and a booming Power Generation business (Q1 Power Gen revenue +41% to $2.817B). The piece argues CAT benefits from data-center power demand and AI-driven software (MineStar, Cat Connect), positioning it as an industrial AI play. Risks noted include $710M in tariff-related costs, margin compression in Resource Industries, dealer inventory build and a forward P/E of 37 vs. analyst target ~$882. The market implication: institutional interest in industrial suppliers of AI infrastructure could sustain further re-rating and capital flows into industrials tied to the data-center capex cycle.