> One problem is that there isn't one number that indicates what percentage of Nvidia's equity investments come back to it in the form of chip purchases.

And why couldn't a single number be calculated for this? They know their portfolio companies, their investment amounts, and the portfolio company purchases of their products.

> There are also the questions of the revenue and revenue quality of the companies Nvidia has invested in, how much debt they've taken on, what sort of backstops/guarantees Nvidia has given them, etc.

These are generally good things to look at for all corporate investments.

The main takeaway is that Nvidia investing in their own customers isn't inherently a bad thing. Investing in a poorly performing company is a bad thing.