SLV 10-K Analysis: Why 83% of the Silver Trust's $21B Earnings Are Paper
The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) reported $21.3 billion in net income for FY2025 — on paper, more profitable than 98% of the S&P 500. But 83.3% of that income is unrealized silver gains that never produced a dollar of cash. Meanwhile, each share's silver backing has eroded 9.3% since inception because the trust sells silver to pay BlackRock's 0.50% annual fee — a fee BlackRock can raise without shareholder approval. The filing reveals a structurally simple but economically powerful fee extraction mechanism operating behind one of America's most popular commodity investments.