House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband sold up to $5 million worth of shares of chipmaker Nvidia as the House prepares to vote on a bill focusing on the domestic chip manufacturing industry.
Pelosi completed a period transaction report signed on Tuesday that indicated that her husband, Paul Pelosi, sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price of $165.05 with a total loss of $341,365.In total, the shares are worth between $1 million and $5 million.A separate filing signed by the House Speaker earlier this month indicated that Paul Pelosi had exercised call options last month to purchase 20,000 shares of the chipmaker at a strike price of $100. The latest regulatory filing came one day before the Senate passed legislation in a 64-33 vote to provide $280 billion to bolster the American semiconductor industry as the nation grappled with a chip shortage, which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked about her husband’s decision to sell his shares given the timing of the House’s vote on the chips bill, Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told The Hill in a statement, “Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.”“As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,” he added.Paul Pelosi’s trading has been under previous scrutiny, including from Republican lawmakers like Sen. Josh Hawley. The Missouri Republican sent a letter to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) last week about a proposal to ban members of Congress and their spouses from insider stock trading and cited Paul Pelosi’s purchase of the Nvidia stock.“It has been more than six months since members of this Committee proposed measures to put an end to inappropriate financial transactions. Despite these efforts, Speaker Pelosi and her husband remain undeterred from cashing in,” he wrote in his letter.During a news conference earlier this month, Pelosi said her husband does not make sales or purchase stock based on information she has.