BBC’s pension fund has made substantial bets on their continued financial success even when the staff may be struggling with the challenge posed by US tech giants such as Netflix, Amazon, Google and Facebook, The fund’s largest individual stock market investment is a stake in Amazon worth £48m, according to newly released figures. Other major holdings include a £43m stake in Google parent company Alphabet, £35m of shares in Facebook, a £24m stake in Apple and £23m of investment in Netflix.

The tech companies are posing an existential challenge for the BBC, whose audiences are migrating to new platforms. But the figures show that the surging share price of these major tech companies is good news for the 50,000 beneficiaries of the BBC’s pension fund. BBC workers have not been able to join the scheme since 2010, meaning that while employees are dealing with challenges from the likes of Netflix, older and former colleagues are benefiting from the financial success of these media rivals.

Funding the generous defined benefit pension scheme is a substantial drain on BBC resources. The pension fund received £156m from the BBC during the last year – equivalent to about £6 from every licence fee.

The BBC said the stock holdings remain a relatively small part of the overall fund, which manages more than £16bn in assets across a range of investments. The scheme is run independently of the corporation by trustees who set investment priorities in consultation with the BBC and financial advisers, although four trustees are appointed by the BBC and another four are elected by members.

The fund has a £1.8bn shortfall, and a long-term deficit reduction programme is being funded from the BBC’s income at a time when the broadcaster is having to make cuts in other parts of the organisation. Other substantial holdings include £40m in Chinese internet giant Tencent and £27m in Elon Musk’s Tesla.