Penn holds over $79 million in gambling company and Krispy ...

Credit: Janine Navalta

Penn has consistently held stock investments in Krispy Kreme Inc., Light & Wonder Inc., and several other companies, according to an analysis of the University's Form 13F filings.

The Form 13F is a quarterly report that is required to be submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission by all institutional investment managers managing at least $100 million. Penn's Form 13F discloses its holdings, including the names of the securities, the number of shares held, and the fair market value of those securities.

According to the data, both Krispy Kreme, an American doughnut and coffeehouse chain, and Light & Wonder, an American company specializing in gambling products, have appeared in every 13F filing submitted by Penn since the first quarter of 2022. Among the nine companies found across Penn's 13F filings, 30% of them belong to the biotechnology industry.

The filings for the last seven quarters consistently show holdings in Light & Wonder Inc., averaging $41 million, and Krispy Kreme Inc., averaging $28 million.

Penn holdings in Light & Wonder and Krispy Kreme take top spots for highest market value over past seven quarters

In every 13F report submitted by the university since the second quarter of 2022, Light & Wonder and Krispy Kreme have consistently held the first and second highest market value among the holdings listed. Penn’s holding in Light & Wonder reached an all-time high in the most recent quarter, valued at over $49 million.

Wharton sophomore Malia Sanghvi, the vice president of membership for the Wharton Undergraduate Finance Club, said she supported Penn's holdings in Krispy Kreme.

“I haven't looked into the stock to really say whether you get a return or not, but Krispy Kreme is a household brand and I don't really have any concerns," Sanghvi said. "I trust the analysts."

Sanghvi said she also viewed Penn’s holdings in Coursera positively due to the company’s ties to education.

“I know that it's an education-based company and given that Penn is a university, I feel comfortable with that," Sanghvi said, noting that Penn offers some courses on the Coursera platform.

Wharton sophomore Francesco Salamone, a member of Wharton Impact Investing Partners, echoed Sanghvi's assessment of the relationship between Penn and Coursera. 

“I think there is an alignment in terms of the mission, obviously as Coursera is a platform about education," Salamone said. "In general, I'm not surprised that the investment office from Penn has investments that are aligned with the operations of Penn itself."

30% of Penn's 13F holdings since the first quarter of 2022 are in biotechnology companies

Out of the nine companies featured in Penn’s 13F reports since 2022, three belong to the biotechnology sector: Carisma Therapeutics Inc., RAPT Therapeutics, and Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc.

Carisma Therapeutics, a biotech company focusing on cellular immunotherapy for solid tumors, first appeared in Penn’s most recent 13F report, valued at over $19 million. The company was co-founded by Saar Gill, a professor in the Perelman School of Medicine, and Michael Klichinsky, who earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Penn.

How the fair market value of Penn's Form 13F holdings have changed over time

Looking at 13F stock values over time, there is a substantial drop in the value of Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. after the first quarter of 2022, and Meli Kaszek Pioneer Corp. has been absent since the second quarter of 2023.

In the first quarter of 2022, Penn recorded 3.4 million Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. shares worth over $125 million. This figure plummeted to 756,000 shares worth over $28 million in the second quarter of 2022, representing a 78% decrease in shares.

From the second to third quarter of this year, Penn's holdings in Meli Kaszek Pioneer Corp., a blank check company focused on Latin American technology, decreased from 1.5 million shares to zero, as the company was liquidated on June 5.

“I'd be curious to know more about the general themes of investment and how they translate the mission of the investment office into industries," Salamone said. "Once you know that, I think it's easier to connect the dots with the specific companies they are investing in but there's a greater need for clarity online to the general strategic framework that Penn’s investment office uses."