A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi is one of the wealthiest members of Congress. She and her husband, Paul, are often scrutinized for their stock trades because of suspicions of insider trading. Her portfolio has grown by 700 percent from $123 million in 2014 to an estimated $270 million in early 2025, according to Quiver Quantitative, a financial data platform.
In 2024, Pelosi posted impressive stock trading results, delivering a 54 percent gain and outperforming almost every hedge fund, based on Autopilot figures.
Unusual Whales’ CEO, who doesn’t divulge his identity, said that interest in lawmakers’ trades surged during the COVID-19 pandemic when the Senate and House conducted private briefings while working to pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act, a $2.2 trillion relief package bill. The anonymous CEO added that the Pelosis’ stock trades have generated attractive investment returns.
As a result, investors now copy the stock transactions of Pelosi and other lawmakers. Platforms like Unusual Whales and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) such as NANC and KRUZ were developed to copy congressional trading strategies.
Christopher Josephs, who launched the Autopilot app, said in January 2025 that traders who copied Pelosi’s trading patterns have amassed $45 million in realized and unrealized gains.
Josephs, who also operates the “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” on X since January 2021, launched Autopilot app to allow traders to trade identically to that of Nancy’s husband, Paul. He told The Post that his Autopilot app has facilitated over $325 million in trades by those emulating the strategies of Paul Pelosi.
First Insider Trading Allegations and Political Fallout
On July 21, 2022, Fox Business quoted Nancy claiming that her husband never made stock purchases based on information she gave him. Her denial came after Paul purchased $1 million and $5 million in Nvidia, a computer chip firm, before a congressional vote on a $52 billion subsidy and tax credits for the semiconductor industry was held. The bill was meant to increase the U.S. capability in computer chip manufacturing and make it more competitive with China.
U.S. President Donald Trump told TIME, as cited by Business Insider, that he watched Nancy Pelosi get rich by insider trading and would “absolutely” sign a bill banning stock trading into law.
Fox Business reported on September 25, 2024, that financial disclosures revealed that Paul sold 2,000 shares of Visa for at least $500,000 on July 1, 2024, a few months before the US government sued the credit card firm for its illegal monopoly over the U.S. debit card market. It is unknown if the Pelosis profited from the transaction, and for how much, if any.
The New York Post reported in September 2024 that Trump demanded that Nancy Pelosi “be prosecuted” over Paul’s Visa stock trades while the Justice Department was preparing to sue the company.
Pelosi insists that she does not own any stocks and has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any stock transactions.
How Nancy Pelosi Performed in Stock Trading During Trump’s Second Term
Since President Donald Trump began his second term, the Pelosis have several stock holdings under the name of Paul. The stocks, largely in the technology space, have not grown much since Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Newsweek reported that the Pelosis purchased and sold shares of Apple, Tempus AI, Alphabet, Amazon, NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, and Vistra Corp, among others, in January and December 2024.
Apple stock jumped from about $222 per share to $238, and Tempus AI grew from around $47 to $50 since Trump’s inauguration. Meanwhile, Alphabet dropped from $199 to $168, Amazon fell from $230 to $205, and NVIDIA went from $140 to about $114.
The Pelosis made significant earnings by selling some of the stocks at significantly higher prices than when they were purchased.
After Paul bought between $50,001 and $100,000 in Tempus AI Class A at $31.83 per stock on January 14, 2025, its value increased to over $50. Shares of Tempus AI have soared by 60 percent to around $50.50 each as of January 16, 2025. Newsweek reported on February 21 that it has further grown to $70.08. Pelosi also sold NVIDIA stock just weeks before it lost over 15 percent of its value in a single day.
The Economic Times reported on April 4 that since the beginning of 2025, Pelosi lost an estimated $23 million, citing Quiver Quantitative co-founder Chris Kardatzke, mainly due to her heavy tech stock investments. The technology sector has been especially vulnerable to Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. Companies like Apple, which dropped by almost 9 percent a day after Trump announced the tariffs, rely heavily on overseas manufacturing.
Calls to Reform
Profitable trades by Nancy Pelosi’s investor husband, Paul, who owns the San Francisco-based investment and consulting firm Financial Leasing Services, Inc., have attracted criticism. The former speaker has denied any misconduct.
With lawmakers outperforming the stock market, there are concerns that they are using non-public information to trade. Thus, some lawmakers have proposed legislation banning members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from owning or trading stocks.
The majority of both Democrats and Republicans favor a congressional stock trading ban, according to Business Insider.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said he planned to reintroduce the PELOSI Act, which stands for “Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act.”
According to a Deseret News report, the PELOSI Act would give current and future lawmakers 180 days to comply or forfeit any stock profits to the Treasury Department and be monetarily penalized by the House and Senate ethics committees.
Another proposal, the ETHICS Act, seeks to ban lawmakers and their families from trading individual stocks altogether. However, some lawmakers say the ban might discourage people from entering public service.
Supporters of reforms believe these changes would help people trust Congress more. Small adjustments, like requiring same-day disclosures of trades, could make a big difference in accountability and transparency.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is embracing a ban on the trading of individual stocks.
New York’s Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who sponsored one of the bans, said that he is glad that Jeffries is finally on board with the legislation for a trading ban on lawmakers after years of Pelosi becoming prolific in stock trading.
In December 2024, former U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed a ban on congressional stock trading. Newsweek reported that during an interview with Senator Bernie Sanders’ political adviser, Faiz Shakir, Biden discussed his position on the ban. The interview was released on the YouTube channel, More Perfect Union.
Biden said the law should be changed at the federal level to prevent lawmakers from making money in the stock market while they are members of Congress.
Politico also quoted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that Trump “would be interested” in considering a stock trading ban proposal.
Pelosi’s Reaction to Proposed Reforms
Pelosi has long opposed a ban on congressional stock trading.
In 2021, she stated that with the U.S. having a free-market economy, lawmakers should be able to participate in stock trading. She later reversed her stance, saying she was okay with introducing a ban on congressional trading if the caucus wanted to.
Advocates of a bill designed to curb insider trading among members of Congress and their spouses complained in 2022 that Pelosi had stalled its approval.
