Chamath Palihapitiya Looks Set To Make A Windfall From Nvidia's Purchase Of Groq, Here Is What The SPAC King Said After The Deal

SPAC King Chamath Palihapitiya is set for a massive payday following NVIDIA Corp.’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) $20.6 billion deal with rival semiconductor company, Groq. Early Investor To Big Exit Palihapitiya's Social Capital was among Groq's earliest backers, investing $10 million in 2017 and adding another $52.3 million the following year, a move that gave the firm close to one-third ownership of the stealth hardware startup at the time. In addition to being a major early investor, Palihapitiya served on the company’s board since the very beginning, before stepping down in 2021. See Also: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s Taiwan Visit Triggers TSMC Factory Frenzy As AI Chip Demand Forces Suppliers Into Overdrive Through 2026: Report Groq went on to raise several additional funding rounds, most recently securing $750 million at a valuation of $6.9 billion earlier this year. The company has since been backed by several other prominent investors, including BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK), Neuberger Berman, Samsung Electronics Co. (OTC:SSNLF), Disruptive and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO). Despite dilution from later funding rounds and uncertainty around its current ownership, Social Capital's early bet on Groq has almost certainly delivered a substantial windfall for Palihapitiya, who has backed the company since its early stages, all the way through its billion-dollar exit. Since Social Capital now operates primarily as Palihapitiya's family office and is closed to outside investors, he stands to capture the bulk of the windfall, a gain that would significantly expand his estimated $1.2 billion net worth, according to Forbes. Social Capital did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for a comment. This story will be updated as soon as we receive a response. $100 Billion By 2045 On Thursday, in a post on X, Palihapitiya highlighted his early journey with Groq and even shared the first investment memo he wrote regarding the company, where he predicted a valuation of $100 billion for the company by the year 2045, adding “Possibly.” He said the company, “as with all important companies,” endured its own “trials and tribulations,” including the decision to promote Jonathan Ross, the company’s founder, from CTO to CEO and “the inevitable falling out and repair” of their relationship, adding, “it all happened for a reason.” Taken Sep 1, 2016 when @JonathanRoss321 convinced me we could take on the giants, build new silicon and that AI was coming. In typical SV fashion, we didn't even have a company yet – just a term sheet from me to invest and the three of us. I spent the next month recruiting as… pic.twitter.com/3On4uwX1Mz— Chamath Palihapitiya (@chamath) December 24, 2025 Groq To Remain An Independent Company According to the terms of the deal, Nvidia will be entering into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Groq to access the latter’s inference technology. The company’s founder, Jonathan Ross and President Sunny Madra, along with other team members, are set to join Nvidia, as part of the deal to help advance the licensing of this technology. Groq has long been a prized asset for Palihapitiya. Just last year, he dismissed two partners at Social Capital after they attempted to raise outside capital for the company's latest funding round through a special purpose vehicle, according to a report by Bloomberg. Read More: Chamath Palihapitiya Warns Bernie Sanders’ ‘Stop AI’ Message Sounds Rational To Squeezed Americans Photo: Kathy Hutchins on Shutterstock.com