Pelosi Bets Up to $3 Million on a Big Year for Google, Disney, and Roblox
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) placed up to $3 million in bets this month on a handful of companies to succeed in 2022 — including Google, SalesForce, and Disney.
Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, put the money on call options in the four-day period from Dec. 17-21, according to disclosures made public on Thursday by the House Clerk. Their largest investment was for call options for SalesForce, valued at $500,000 to $1.250 million. The options came with a strike price of $210 on Jan. 20, 2023, compared to $65 as of Dec. 29. Google ranked as their second-highest investment, with $500,000-$1 million for calls at a strike price of $2,000 on Sept. 16, 2022, compared to $109 on Thursday.
Other investments included $250,000-$500,000 on call options for Micron Technology, at a strike price of $50 on Sept. 16, 2022; the same amount for calls on Roblox, at a price of $100 on Jan. 20, 2023; and $100,000-$250,000 for calls on Disney at $130 on Sept. 16, 2022.
The disclosures, which members of Congress are required to file, reveal monetary ranges for their investments, but not exact figures.
The Pelosis, both 81, have developed a reputation for prophetic ability when it comes to picking stocks. Their trades last made headlines in January, when they purchased between $500,000 and $1 million in call options in Tesla at a strike price of $500. That stock hit a new historical high last month in excess of $1,200.
The issue received so much attention in 2021 that some tech giants took measures to crack down on accounts publicizing Pelosi’s trades. Twitter banned one account, “NancyTracker,” that developed a following by highlighting her trades as they were disclosed.
By some estimate, Pelosi and her husband made a 45.59 percent return on stocks last year, along with a 66.7 percent return on options trading. They wield an estimated total net worth of up to $120 million.
The issue garnered so much attention over the last year,
Asked this month whether she believed members of Congress should quit trading stocks due to ethical questions, Pelosi said she would object to such a measure. “Should members of Congress and their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in Congress?” a reporter asked at the speaker’s weekly press briefing.
“No,” Pelosi replied. “We have a responsibility to report on the stock, but I’m not familiar with that five-month review. But if people aren’t reporting, they should be.”
