Pelosi Made $130M in Congress Stock Trades

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband made at least $130 million in stock profits over the course of the California Democrat’s 37 years in Congress — a staggering return of 16,930%.

Pelosi, 85, announced this week she will retire when her term ends in January 2027.

The San Francisco pol became famous as the first woman to wield the speaker’s gavel, and infamous for her exceptional stock market returns.

Before first taking Congressional office in 1987, the then-47-year-old freshman and her hubby, venture capitalist Paul Pelosi, reported between $610,000 and $785,000 in stocks in their portfolio, according to a copy of her “hand delivered” 1987 financial disclosure form.

They held a dozen stocks, including CitiBank, and in many companies no longer publicly traded.

That portfolio has soared to $133.7 million today, according to the latest estimates from Quiver Quantitative.

That represents an eye-watering profit of 16,930% — compared to 2,300% for the Dow Jones over those years.

Even with the power of compound interest, the windfall represents a staggering 14.5% average annual return — beating out the S&P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones performances over those years, around 7% to 9%.

Last year, their investment portfolio pulled in an estimated 54% return, more than double the S&P 500’s 25% gain — and beating every large hedge fund, according to numbers in Bloomberg’s end-of-year tally.

Pelosi’s 2024 financial disclosure form shows holdings in some two dozen individual stocks, including millions in each of NVIDIA, Palo Alto Network, Salesforce, Netflix – and between $25 and $50 million of Apple stocks – their largest holding.

The Pelosis are worth an estimated $280 million today – compared to around $3 million when the Golden State lawmaker joined Congress.

They also have stakes in various other ventures, including a Napa Valley winery worth between $5 and 25 million, a Bay area Italian restaurant, commercial real estate and a political data and consulting firm.

They have a home in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco valued at $8.7 million and a crash pad in the Georgetown neighborhood of DC bought in 1999 for $650,000.

The She-Wolf of Wall Street is leaving public life as momentum grows to ban lawmakers and their spouses from trading individual stocks, arguing they have access to market-moving information ahead of the public.

In September, the latest iteration of a trading-ban bill was introduced in the House.

Pelosi is so notorious for trading that past versions of the bill were named after her — and ETFs have attempted to copy her trades.

“I think what I’ll miss most is how she trades,” said Dan Weiskopf, portfolio manager of an ETF that follows members of Congress’ trades called NANC – after the Queen of Stocks.

“It’s so high conviction and aggressive. . . . The only reason why you make such trades is if you’ve got a process that gives you confidence, and as far as I know, they’re not buying off technicals. So, they must be doing it because of information around the companies themselves.”

Weiskopf said Pelosi’s trading style is marked by her prolific use of options trading.

“You only do that because you want leverage and you only really want leverage on that kind of trading if you have a lot of convictions,” he said. “She’s buying deep in the money and putting up a lot of money in doing it. . . . and we’re not seeing her panic. We don’t see a lot of flip flopping on her trading activity.”

One of Pelosi’s greatest hits, he said, has been exercising a call option in December bought in late 2023 at an estimated premium of $1.8 million, allowing the Pelosis to nab 50,000 shares of hot AI chip stock NVIDIA for $12 a pop — less than one-tenth its market price.

In total the couple paid an estimated $2.4 million for the investment, which on paper is now worth more than $7.2 million.

“When you’re supposed to be called an honorable member of Congress, maybe you should look yourself in the mirror and say, I want to do the right thing,” Weiskopf said.

“Nancy Pelosi’s true legacy is becoming the most successful insider trader in American history,” said Kiersten Pels, spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. “If anyone else had turned $785,000 into $133.7 million with better returns than Warren Buffett, they’d be retiring behind bars.”