The US Government Is Now a Shareholder in 26 Companies. Here's What They Own and What They Could Be Buying Next.

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The US Government Is Now a Shareholder in 26 Companies. Here's What They Own and What They Could Be Buying Next.<br>Washington has taken equity stakes in 26 companies across nine sectors since January 2025. It has $181 billion left to deploy. Here is every deal, every sector, and where it's likely going next.

Moe On Margin<br>May 31, 2026

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All deal terms sourced from SEC filings, official government press releases, and the Council on Foreign Relations Government Deal Tracker (cfr.org, April 22, 2026). xLight terms from Commerce Dept / NIST press release (December 2, 2025) and Manufacturing Dive. Quantum deals from NIST press release (May 21, 2026). DFC ceiling from Congress.gov (P.L. 119-60). MP Materials from SEC 8-K (July 10, 2025). Intel from SEC 8-K (August 22, 2025). Not investment advice.

There is a number that should change how you think about American industrial policy.<br>$181 billion…

That is the gap between how much the US government has deployed in direct equity investments at $23.9 billion across twenty-six confirmed deals and the maximum ceiling it is now legally allowed to invest: $205 billion . The CFR Government Deal Tracker now logs 17 pre-quantum deals . Nine more were added in a single week when Washington took equity stakes in nine quantum computing companies on May 21, 2026.<br>Washington is operating like a sovereign wealth fund. It just hasn’t announced it in those terms.<br>The playbook has shifted from grant-maker to shareholder with breathtaking speed.<br>The government has taken a 15% stake in America’s only rare earth miner.

A 9.9% stake in Intel. An equity stake in xLight, a startup building a laser system to challenge ASML’s near-monopoly on EUV lithography.

Minority positions in nine quantum computing companies.

A participation interest in Westinghouse’s nuclear programme.

A golden share in U.S. Steel.

Private co-investors including J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs have put an additional $4.75 billion alongside government capital. The Emirati sovereign wealth fund ADQ has joined minerals deals. And more is coming.<br>The question is no longer whether Washington will invest in commercial companies. It already does. The question is which sectors come next — and who the public-market proxies are.

Washington’s Investment Portfolio — Government Capital Deployed by Sector, 2025–2026 Sources: CFR Government Deal Tracker (May 2026); NIST (May 21, 2026); CSIS (May 2026); FY27 budget submissions.<br>How This Programme Works — The Three Tools

Most people think of government support as grants. Write a check, take no ownership, hope it works. That model still exists, but since 2025 Washington has layered two additional tools on top that are fundamentally different.<br>Tool 1: Direct equity. The government becomes a shareholder through preferred stock, common stock, or warrants. It participates in upside if the company’s value rises. The Intel stake, the L3Harris stake, the xLight stake and the quantum deals. This makes the programme categorically different from anything Washington has done since the 2008 bank bailouts.<br>Tool 2: Grants and loans. The traditional toolkit, deployed alongside equity to stack incentives. CHIPS Act R&D grants, DoE loan programs and the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit. These run underneath the equity positions.<br>Tool 3: Off-take agreements and price floors. The most powerful and least discussed tool. Instead of just giving a company money, the government buys its output at a guaranteed minimum price, securing massive revenue streams for years into the future. MP Materials’ 10-year NdPr price floor at $110 per kilogram is the flagship example. The government has not just hoped MP succeeds, it has contractually guaranteed the economics of success. (As expected the stock has soared high more than doubling in price since deal signing)<br>Equity + grants + price floor/off-take creates a national champion structure. The government becomes co-owner, co-funder, and guaranteed customer simultaneously. No private-sector competitor anywhere is competing against all three at once.

One more layer most coverage ignores: the government has mobilised an additional $4.75 billion in private co-investment , with J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and others participating alongside government capital. The Emirati sovereign wealth fund ADQ and Japanese investors have also joined specific deals.

The Funding Machine: $60 Billion Just Became $205 Billion

The Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is the US government’s development bank. Its maximum investment ceiling was $60 billion under the original BUILD Act. In December 2025, Congress passed the DFC Modernization and Reauthorization Act of 2025 (P.L. 119-60) . It raised the ceiling to $205 billion , extended DFC’s authority to domestic investments under the Defense Production Act, and authorized a...