Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has once again set off a storm of conversation in both political and financial circles after her household’s stock portfolio outperformed nearly every major hedge fund in 2024. The results, disclosed through the STOCK Act’s public reporting requirements, are impressive on paper – but also fuel ongoing questions about whether members of Congress have an unfair advantage in the markets.
A Record-Breaking Year on Wall Street
According to Bloomberg’s year-end figures, Pelosi’s investments, all made in her husband Paul Pelosi’s name, delivered a 54 percent return in 2024. That is more than double the S&P 500’s 25 percent gain for the year. In doing so, she outpaced some of the most sophisticated hedge funds in the world, including Citadel Wellington at 15.1 percent, Millennium Management at 15 percent, and Marshall Wace’s Eureka Fund at 14.3 percent.
Only a select few funds topped her – Light Street Capital at 59.4 percent and Discovery Capital at 52 percent – but even legendary investors fell short. Dub App CEO Steven Wang told Newsmax, “You look at the Oracle of Omaha and yet he’s got nothing on Nancy Pelosi. She beat every single hedge fund in 2024. She is up 165 percent since inception… that’s three times the S&P 500 in the same time.”
The Trades That Made It Happen
Pelosi’s extraordinary returns were fueled by a series of trades that, while perfectly legal under current rules, were timed with uncanny precision. The most striking example was a December call option that allowed the Pelosis to buy 50,000 shares of NVIDIA for $12 each, less than one-tenth of its market price at the time. Their estimated $2.4 million outlay is now worth over $7.2 million.
Another well-timed move came in February 2024, when they purchased call options on cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks in the same week that lawmakers were briefed on a significant national security threat involving Russia. Those options allowed them to buy shares at $100 apiece, roughly half the market price, and the stake is now valued at around $2.8 million.
Their January 2025 trades continued the trend. They bought options on AI health firm Tempus AI just before it announced a $200 million partnership with AstraZeneca, sending the stock soaring. They also took a position in energy company Vistra, which surged after unveiling a $1.9 billion deal to acquire natural gas facilities nationwide.
The Growing Industry of Political Trading
The STOCK Act of 2012 was designed to prevent insider trading by requiring members of Congress to disclose any stock trade over $1,000 within 30 to 45 days. While the law aimed to promote transparency, it has instead fueled a new industry that profits by tracking lawmakers’ trades.
Apps like Dub and Autopilot now allow ordinary investors to “mirror” trades made by public officials. Autopilot openly brands Pelosi as the “queen of political stock trading.” Exchange-traded funds like NANC, which follows Democratic lawmakers’ trades, and KRUZ, which follows Republican trades, have also emerged.
Wang admitted that despite repeated proposals to curb congressional trading, he does not expect meaningful reform. “There’s been dozens of bills over the past 10 years, most recently the Pelosi Act. But there are too many vested interests… Until it does [pass], Dub will be here to bridge the gap,” he said.
Trump’s Sharp Words
President Donald Trump wasted no time in attacking Pelosi over her financial windfall. In a post on Truth Social, he accused her and her husband of using “INSIDE INFORMATION” to “beat ALL of the Super Geniuses on Wall Street.” He referred to Pelosi as a “disgusting degenerate” and suggested her results could not be explained by ordinary investing skill.
“These two very average ‘minds’ beat ALL of the Super Geniuses on Wall Street, thousands of them,” Trump wrote. “Is anybody looking into this???”
Pelosi Pushes Back
Pelosi has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Her spokesperson told the New York Post, “Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks, and she has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.” In public remarks, Pelosi has framed her position around maintaining public trust, saying, “The American people deserve confidence that their elected leaders are serving the public interest — not their personal portfolios.”
Interestingly, Pelosi has recently softened her stance on reform. While she once said “we’re a free-market economy” when asked about a ban, she now says, “If they do, they do,” when questioned on whether Congress should prohibit members and their families from trading individual stocks. She has even expressed support for Senator Josh Hawley’s HONEST Act, which was originally named the PELOSI Act.
The Ethics Debate Intensifies
For critics, Pelosi’s returns highlight a larger problem: the appearance that lawmakers might benefit from information unavailable to the general public. Even if trades are technically above board, their timing often raises questions. Selling Visa stock just months before a Department of Justice monopoly lawsuit or unloading Microsoft shares before an FTC antitrust investigation might be dismissed as coincidence – but when a pattern of such timing repeats, suspicions grow.
Supporters of reform argue that Congress should follow the same strict rules that apply to other branches of government and that even the appearance of impropriety damages trust. Some propose same-day disclosure of trades, while others call for an outright ban.
For now, Pelosi’s portfolio remains a powerful symbol — a blend of unmatched returns, impeccable timing, and persistent ethical debate — that ensures she will remain both admired and questioned in equal measure.
