Source: Financial Times
Alphabet and Amazon derive majority earnings from venture capital stakes and other non-core operations rather than their primary businesses—$49B of their $53B in "other income" came from equity holdings in private companies. This shift reflects how the tech giants have evolved into sprawling financial conglomerates where passive investment returns now dwarf operational margins. The scale of this income stream concentrates wealth and capital allocation power in two companies that control early-stage funding across the startup ecosystem.