Representative Nancy Pelosi avoided a potential loss of nearly $100,000 after selling shares of PayPal weeks before the stock slid sharply, adding fresh attention to the trading record of a congressional household whose investment performance continues to outpace the broader market.
According to a periodic transaction report, Pelosi sold roughly 5,000 PayPal shares on Dec. 30, valued between $250,000 and $500,000, when the stock was trading near $59 a share. In the weeks that followed, PayPal shares declined steadily before tumbling in early February after the company forecast a mid-single-digit decline in first-quarter adjusted earnings and announced a leadership transition.
PayPal later said Enrique Lores would become president and chief executive effective March 1, 2026. Shares subsequently fell as low as $40, implying that holding the position could have resulted in losses approaching six figures.
Pelosi's trades are closely tracked by retail investors and analysts, in part because of the long-term performance of the portfolio managed by her husband. The account known as the Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker on X estimated that the portfolio returned about 54% in 2024, surpassing the gains of popular benchmark strategies and outperforming many professional hedge funds.
Over the past decade, the Pelosi portfolio has posted returns exceeding 700%, fueled by aggressive use of options and timely exits from individual stocks ahead of market-moving events. Those results have repeatedly reignited speculation over whether members of Congress possess advantages unavailable to ordinary investors, allegations Pelosi has consistently rejected.
The PayPal trade joins a series of transactions that have drawn attention for their timing. In late July 2024, Pelosi sold about 5,000 shares of Microsoft, worth more than $2.1 million. The sale occurred within weeks of a widespread CrowdStrike-related cybersecurity incident that disrupted millions of Windows-based devices and sent Microsoft shares swinging.
Later that year, Microsoft stock experienced further volatility after the Federal Trade Commission launched a broad antitrust investigation into the company's cloud computing, software licensing, and business practices. Pelosi's earlier exit shielded the portfolio from subsequent price turbulence.
On the buying side, Pelosi has made well-timed options bets on major semiconductor firms. In November 2023, she purchased 50 call options on Nvidia with a $120 strike price expiring in December 2024, months before the company executed a 10-for-1 stock split. In June 2024, she bought call options on Broadcom shortly before that company announced its own 10-for-1 split.
Pelosi also sold 2,000 shares of Visa in July 2024, roughly three months before the Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit accusing the company of unlawfully monopolizing the debit card market.
The renewed focus on Pelosi's trades comes as lawmakers face growing criticism for active stock trading. The 2012 Stock Act requires members of Congress to disclose transactions within 45 days, but compliance has been uneven. Katie Boyd Britt, among others, has reported dozens of trades well past the deadline, with some disclosures delayed by nearly a year, intensifying calls for stricter enforcement or outright bans on congressional stock trading.
