Pelosi Exercises Tesla Stock Options To Buy $2 Million In Shares

Topline

In a regulatory filing unveiled Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) disclosed her financier husband purchased more than $2 million in Tesla stock last week, marking one of the lawmaker’s biggest equity investments this year as lawmakers tackle a wave of scrutiny targeting their trading activity.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during her weekly news conference in Washington last Thursday.

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Key Facts

In a periodic transaction filing, Pelosi disclosed her husband, Paul Pelosi, exercised 25 call options on Thursday to buy 2,500 shares of Tesla stock, worth nearly $2.2 million at the time; the options were set to expire on Friday.

The lawmaker unveiled the options in December, when her husband purchased them with a strike price of $500 for between $500,000 and $1 million; at the time, the couple also disclosed investments in AllianceBernstein, Apple and Walt Disney Company.

Buoyed by a broader-market recovery on Tuesday, Tesla shares have skyrocketed about 10% since Pelosi’s purchase, including 8% on Tuesday alone; however, the stock is still down nearly 19% from an all-time high set in November.

It’s not the first high-priced options bet Pelosi has placed on big-tech stocks: Last year, Paul Pelosi reportedly made about $5 million on options contracts tied to Alphabet stock.

Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment about the transaction.

Under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, lawmakers must disclose stock transactions made personally or by their spouses or dependent children within 45 days.

Key Background

Lawmakers’ personal investments have garnered increased scrutiny since a series of trades by Federal Reserve officials led to high-profile resignations in recent months. Though the Fed, whose monetary policy measures helped the stock market recover during the pandemic, has since unveiled rules banning officials from individual stock trades, Congress is still considering what steps it should take. Pelosi initially rejected the idea of a ban in December, saying: “We are a free market economy. [Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,” but she’s since turned a corner. In February, the Speaker directed the House Administration Committee to work on legislation prohibiting lawmakers from trading individual stocks. A vote is expected this year.

Tangent

Pelosi is far from alone among lawmakers making high-priced trades. According to financial data platform Quiver Quantitative, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and John Rutherford (R-Fla.) last week disclosed more than two dozen stock trades—worth less than $500,000 in total—buying names like Tesla, Verizon and UPS, while selling shares of Etsy, Snap and Facebook.

What To Watch For

Lawmakers are set to hold a hearing about stock trading reforms in the coming weeks. A hearing on the subject scheduled for last Wednesday was postponed.

Big Number

$115 million. That’s roughly how much Pelosi is worth, according to an analysis of 2018 disclosures conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, making the Speaker one of 10 richest lawmakers.