U.S. government corporate stakes lack a single public ledger

The U.S. government corporate stakes assembled under President Donald Trump now total about $26.7 billion across 30 equity or quasi-equity deals, Fortune reported. The holdings include a 9.9% position in Intel that Fortune said is now worth $42 billion, yet there is no single public ledger showing the portfolio.

The deals mark a sharp expansion of Washington’s direct role in private companies. Fortune reported that other holdings include $400 million in rare-earth miner MP Materials, a “golden share” in U.S. Steel tied to its sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel, and several quantum computing transactions.

Where are the U.S. government corporate stakes listed?

Fortune reported that the stakes are spread across at least four federal agencies: 17 deals through Commerce, seven through Defense, six through the Development Finance Corporation and two through Energy. The Treasury Department told Fortune that agencies report equity interests in different ways depending on the legal authority for each stake, while the White House did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

The Development Finance Corporation is the only one of those agencies with clear statutory authority to own equity, Fortune reported, citing a framework Congress created in 2018 for overseas development finance. A DFC spokesperson told Fortune the agency records its equity positions as investment assets and handles them case by case.

Some announced transactions are completed agreements, while others remain less defined. Fortune reported that nine quantum computing deals Commerce announced in one week appear closer to term sheets than finalized ownership positions.

The most complete public tracker is maintained by the Council on Foreign Relations. Jonathan Hillman, the CFR senior fellow who runs it, told Fortune that the announced deals are “only the tip of the iceberg” and that the test will be whether Washington can manage the portfolio over time.

What is known about the Intel stake?

Intel’s August 2025 securities filings identify the Commerce Department as the counterparty to a warrant and common stock agreement covering 433.3 million shares at $20.47 each, Fortune reported. The stake is passive: the government has no board seat or information rights, and it agreed to vote with Intel’s board on most issues.

Fortune reported that about two-thirds of the shares were delivered to Commerce at closing, with the rest held in escrow until Intel meets milestones under a Pentagon chip program. The filings also show that claw-back and profit-sharing provisions attached to Intel’s earlier $2.2 billion CHIPS Act grant were removed.

Ethics filings showed that accounts held in Trump’s name began buying Intel in March, Fortune reported. No insider trading has been alleged, and the White House has said Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children.

For private companies such as Vulcan Elements and xLight, Fortune reported, there are no public SEC filings that would disclose federal ownership in the way Intel’s filings do.

Why are the gains hard to see in the federal budget?

Federal budget rules treat an equity purchase largely as an outlay, according to research by William Henagan, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations cited by Fortune. Those rules offer little mechanism for recording gains, meaning the Intel position’s rise from $8.9 billion to $42 billion does not appear in a budget document.

Fortune compared the current arrangement with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the 2008 financial-crisis rescue fund that came with a special inspector general, a congressional oversight panel and regular Government Accountability Office audits. Even that structure drew criticism: in 2009, TARP’s inspector general told Congress taxpayers were not being told what recipients were doing with their money.

The administration has suggested the holdings could grow. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC after the Intel deal that the stake was “like a down payment on a sovereign wealth fund, which many countries have.”

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.