Nancy Pelosi Added 9 Stocks Since 2025 — Here's Her Strategy and What Average Investors Can Actually Copy
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Nancy Pelosi Added 9 Stocks Since 2025 — Here’s Her Strategy and What Average Investors Can Actually Copy
Her portfolio gained 20.1% in 2025, beating the S&P 500 by 3.5 points. Her husband Paul uses deep in-the-money LEAPS options and concentrates in AI infrastructure. Here is exactly what they are doing — and the honest CPA take on what retail investors can and cannot replicate.
Quick Answer: Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul — a venture capitalist — manages their investment portfolio using deep in-the-money LEAPS call options on large-cap AI infrastructure stocks. The three Magnificent Seven additions since 2025 are Amazon, Nvidia, and Alphabet. The strategy has delivered a 20.1% return in 2025, an 87% win rate since 2014, and an estimated net worth of $628.9 million. The good news: the core principles are replicable for average investors. The bad news: one key ingredient is not.
First — Who Is Actually Making These Trades? THE SETUP
Before diving into the strategy, one important clarification: the trades are disclosed under Nancy Pelosi’s name because the STOCK Act requires members of Congress to disclose household transactions, but all disclosures are marked as made by a spouse. The investor is Paul Pelosi — Nancy’s husband, a venture capitalist and real estate investor who has been actively trading markets for decades. Nancy Pelosi has announced she will not seek re-election in 2026, which means January 2027 will be the last month the public has visibility into this portfolio under STOCK Act requirements. These 2025 and 2026 disclosures may be the final window.
The performance numbers are real regardless of who is executing the trades. Since 2014, the portfolio has executed 213 trades totaling $271.5 million in volume, generated a +170.2% total return with an 87% win rate, and outperformed the S&P 500 by 143.9 percentage points. As of June 2026, the estimated net worth is $628.9 million. In 2025 specifically, the portfolio gained 20.1% — beating the S&P 500’s 16.6% return by 3.5 points.
⚠ Warning: Under the STOCK Act of 2012, members of Congress must disclose trades within 45 days of the transaction. By the time you read about a Pelosi trade in the news, it is already old. The stock has almost always moved significantly before retail investors can act on it. Following congressional trades reactively is not a strategy — it is chasing.
The 9 Stocks Added Since 2025 THE HOLDINGS
Magnificent Seven — Three Names
1. Nvidia (NVDA)
Jan 2025: Bought 50 call options at $80 strike, expiring Jan 2026. Dec 2025: Sold 20,000 shares (tax management) and bought 20 new calls at $100 strike expiring Jan 2027. Jan 2026: Bought 20 more calls at $80 strike AND exercised 50 options into 5,000 shares. Net result: trimmed gains for tax purposes while doubling down on future upside via new calls.
2. Amazon (AMZN)
Jan 2025: Bought 50 call options at $150 strike, expiring Jan 2026. Dec 2025: Sold $1M–$5M of Amazon shares (tax management) and bought 20 new calls at $120 strike expiring Jan 2027. Jan 2026: Exercised 50 options into 5,000 shares. Amazon has secured several large U.S. government contracts including cloud services with the NSA.
3. Alphabet (GOOGL)
Jan 2025: Bought 50 call options at $150 strike, expiring Jan 2026. Dec 2025: Contributed 7,704 shares to a donor-advised fund and bought 20 new calls at $150 strike expiring Jan 2027. Jan 2026: Exercised 50 options into 5,000 shares. Since the January 2025 option purchase, Alphabet’s share price has roughly doubled.
The Other Six
4. Tempus AI (TEM) — Healthcare AI
Jan 2025: Bought 50 call options at $20 strike expiring Jan 2026 — 8 days before Tempus launched its olivia AI health concierge app. Jan 2026: Exercised into 5,000 shares. The stock shot up 160%+ within weeks of initial disclosure before giving back most of those gains. This trade raised the most eyebrows about timing.
5. Vistra (VST) — Nuclear Power / AI Energy Infrastructure
Jan 2025: Purchased call options. Vistra is a nuclear power and energy company — a direct play on the power infrastructure AI data centers require. This was a prescient pick: AI power demand has become the dominant energy story of 2026.
6. Broadcom (AVGO) — AI Networking Chips
Exercised call options in June 2025. Broadcom designs custom AI accelerator chips (ASICs) for hyperscalers and is a major beneficiary of the same AI infrastructure spending driving Nvidia. Currently the third-largest S&P 500 component by weight.
7. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) — Cybersecurity
A top holding per the Pelosi Tracker portfolio. Cybersecurity is the security layer that runs on top of every AI infrastructure buildout — government contracts heavily favor established names like Palo Alto.
8. AllianceBernstein (AB) — Asset Management
Jan 2026: Purchased 25,000 shares valued at $1M–$5M. This is the outlier — an asset management firm rather than a technology name. AB has lagged the S&P 500 since Pelosi’s initial 2021 purchase. A recurring position that has not been the portfolio’s strongest performer.
8. Intel (INTC) — AI Semiconductor Infrastructure
May 29, 2026 (disclosed June 23): Purchased 200 call options at a $50 strike price expiring March 19, 2027, valued at $1M–$5M. Intel closed at $132.28 on June 23 — making the $50 strike already deep in-the-money by more than 2.5x. Intel is a direct AI infrastructure and domestic semiconductor play, benefiting from the CHIPS and Science Act which directed $280 billion toward domestic chip manufacturing. This is the largest single dollar position of 2026 and was disclosed simultaneously with Uber.
9. Uber Technologies (UBER) — Autonomous / AI Mobility
May 29, 2026 (disclosed June 23): Purchased 200 call options at a $50 strike price expiring March 19, 2027, valued at $500,001–$1M. Uber closed near $70 on disclosure day — also deep in-the-money at the $50 strike. Uber is a bet on autonomous driving and AI-enabled logistics — the application layer of AI meeting transportation. Disclosed on the same filing as Intel, signaling the Pelosi portfolio’s return to active trading after a quiet period since January 2026.
The Five Investment Strategy Principles Behind the Portfolio THE STRATEGY
1Deep In-the-Money LEAPS — Leveraged Upside, Long Time Horizon
The core mechanical approach is LEAPS: Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities. These are call options with expiration dates one year or more out. Paul Pelosi specifically buys calls that are already deep in-the-money — meaning the current stock price is already above the strike price he pays. This gives the option intrinsic value from day one while still providing leveraged upside if the stock continues rising. He then exercises them into shares, converting the options into an actual stock position. Had an investor copied the five January 2025 Pelosi options in the same proportions, the portfolio would have returned about 41.7% over just over one year — double the S&P 500. The LEAPS approach amplifies returns compared to simply buying shares outright.
2Concentrated Bet on AI Infrastructure — Not AI Applications
The portfolio has transitioned from pure software plays to companies providing the physical and data infrastructure for AI: Amazon (AWS cloud), Nvidia (chips), Alphabet (cloud + AI compute), Broadcom (custom ASICs and networking), Vistra (nuclear power for data centers), Tempus AI (AI in healthcare diagnostics), Palo Alto Networks (cybersecurity infrastructure). This is the picks-and-shovels approach to AI — own the infrastructure every AI application depends on, rather than betting on which application wins. Information technology represents 22 of 43 total trades since 2014.
3Large-Cap Only — No Speculation, No Small Caps
Every name in the portfolio is a dominant, large-cap company with durable competitive advantages and high barriers to entry. Transactions are made in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars — sizes that only work in highly liquid names. There are no meme stocks, no speculative biotechs, no pre-revenue companies. The concentration is in established monopolies or near-monopolies in their respective spaces. This single constraint eliminates the vast majority of retail investor mistakes: chasing momentum in small illiquid names.
4Deliberate December Tax Management — Sell Gains, Re-Enter via Options
The December 2025 pattern is the most instructive for tax-aware investors: Pelosi sold large chunks of Apple and Nvidia shares in December, then immediately purchased new call options on the same names. This is sophisticated tax management in action. Selling realized the gains at 2025 tax rates, allowing year-end control over taxable income. Re-entering via call options maintained market exposure going into 2026 while technically starting a new position. The wash sale rule does not apply when you sell shares and buy options on the same security (as opposed to buying the shares again within 30 days). This strategy is available to any investor with a taxable brokerage account.
5Government Contract and Policy Awareness as a Screening Tool
Amazon (NSA cloud contracts), Broadcom (defense supply chain), Palo Alto Networks (federal cybersecurity contracts), Vistra (federal energy policy tailwinds), Tempus AI (launched a product 8 days after the options were purchased) — the portfolio shows a consistent pattern of investing in companies with significant government contract exposure or regulatory tailwinds. Whether this reflects superior analytical ability, policy awareness, or something more problematic is the central debate that has surrounded congressional trading for years. What retail investors can replicate: screening for companies with large, durable government contract pipelines as a quality filter.
⚠ Warning: The Tempus AI trade — buying calls 8 days before a major product launch — is the kind of timing that raises serious questions Congress has repeatedly failed to address legislatively. Multiple bills to ban congressional stock trading have stalled. Pelosi herself has opposed trading bans. The STOCK Act requires disclosure within 45 days but does not prohibit trading based on information received through congressional duties. This is the elephant in the room that every article about congressional trading should mention but many do not.
The Performance Scorecard BY THE NUMBERS
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| Metric | Pelosi Portfolio | S&P 500 Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Return | +20.1% | +16.6% |
| Win Rate (since 2014) | 87% | N/A |
| Total Return (since 2014) | +170.2% | +275.8% (S&P total return) |
| Total Trades (since 2014) | 213 trades | — |
| Total Volume (since 2014) | $271.5 million | — |
| 2026 Transactions (YTD) | $8.88 million (incl. Intel $1M–$5M + Uber $500K–$1M disclosed June 23) | (down from $48.6M in 2025) |
| Estimated Net Worth | $628.9 million (June 2026) | — |
| Jan 2025 LEAPS 5-stock return | +41.7% (in 1 year) | ~+20% (S&P same period) |
| Congressional ranking (2025) | 28th of all members | — |
One important context on the total return comparison: the S&P 500’s total return of +275.8% since November 2014 actually exceeds the Pelosi portfolio’s +170.2% measured return. This is partly a measurement issue — the STOCK Act disclosures capture only a subset of transactions, and the portfolio includes tax-driven sales and charitable contributions that reduce measured return. The individual trade performance (87% win rate, 41.7% on the January 2025 LEAPS batch) is genuinely strong. The overall portfolio return comparison against the index is more nuanced than most headlines suggest.
CPA Insight: The Tax Strategy Hidden in Plain Sight
The December sell-and-re-enter pattern is brilliant tax planning. When Pelosi sold Nvidia and Apple shares in December 2025 and immediately bought new call options, she was doing three things simultaneously: (1) realizing gains at 2025 tax rates — locking in the tax cost at a known rate rather than leaving it to 2026 uncertainty, (2) freeing up capital for year-end charitable contributions (the donor-advised fund contribution of 7,704 Alphabet shares eliminates capital gains on those shares entirely while generating a charitable deduction at full fair market value), and (3) maintaining market exposure through new call options without triggering the wash sale rule.
The donor-advised fund move is particularly elegant. Contributing highly appreciated Alphabet stock directly to a donor-advised fund — rather than selling shares and donating cash — eliminates the capital gains tax on the appreciation entirely. At the 20% long-term capital gains rate, contributing $1 million of Alphabet stock bought at $50 saves approximately $190,000 in capital gains tax that would have been owed on a cash sale. The full $1 million fair market value is deductible. This is one of the most tax-efficient charitable strategies in the code and it is available to any investor who holds appreciated stock and donates to charity.
The LEAPS long-term capital gains clock. By buying January 2025 options and exercising them into shares in January 2026 (one year later), the resulting shares start their 12-month long-term capital gains clock from the exercise date — not the option purchase date. This means the Pelosi portfolio intentionally creates positions that will qualify for long-term capital gains treatment approximately 12 months after exercise. Planning the exercise date with the LTCG clock in mind is deliberate tax management that retail investors using LEAPS should also practice.
What Average Investors Can — and Cannot — Copy APPLY IT
✓ What You Can Copy
1. The AI infrastructure concentration — via ETFs. You do not need to pick individual names. QQQ holds Amazon, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Broadcom. SMH holds Nvidia and Broadcom specifically. URNM holds nuclear names like Vistra and Constellation. PANW can be held individually or via cybersecurity ETFs like BUG or CIBR. The Pelosi portfolio’s thematic concentration in AI infrastructure is entirely replicable through low-cost ETFs without single-stock risk or the need for options expertise.
2. The LEAPS concept — scaled to your portfolio. You do not need to buy 50 contracts ($500K) to use LEAPS. A single in-the-money LEAPS call option on a stock you are already bullish on gives you the same leveraged exposure at a fraction of the capital. One LEAPS call contract controls 100 shares. On a large-cap name at $200/share, one contract costs roughly $3,000–$8,000 vs. $20,000 to buy 100 shares outright. The key rules: only use money you can afford to lose entirely, only buy calls on stocks you would happily own at the strike price, and target expirations 12–18 months out.
3. The December tax strategy. Sell appreciated stock positions before December 31 to realize gains at your current year’s tax rate. Immediately re-enter via call options to maintain market exposure — the wash sale rule does not apply when you sell shares and buy options on the same security. This gives you year-end tax control without sacrificing exposure to your highest-conviction names.
4. The donor-advised fund strategy. If you hold any appreciated stock and donate to charity, contribute the shares directly to a donor-advised fund instead of selling and donating cash. You eliminate capital gains tax on the appreciation and deduct the full fair market value. This works on any appreciated position — not just Alphabet.
✗ What You Cannot Copy
1. The information advantage. Members of Congress receive classified intelligence briefings, participate in committee hearings on specific industries, and have relationships with regulators and executives that no retail investor has access to. The Tempus AI trade — 8 days before a major product launch — is difficult to explain without some informational advantage. You do not have this. Period.
2. The scale. Buying 200 Uber call option contracts ($50 strike) creates a $1M+ position that moves markets in smaller names. Your 1–2 contract position does not have the same market-moving effect and also does not benefit from the same institutional relationships when exercising.
3. The 45-day disclosed trades as a real-time signal. By the time you read the headline “Pelosi bought Nvidia calls,” it is 45 days old and Nvidia has already moved. Buying after the disclosure is not following the strategy — it is chasing a move that already happened.
⚠ Warning: LEAPS options can expire worthless. Buying a call option that expires before the stock reaches your expected price level means a 100% loss on that position. Never use money earmarked for emergency funds, retirement savings, or any critical financial goal to buy options. Options are tools for money you can genuinely afford to lose entirely. If the LEAPS concept is new to you, paper-trade it for 90 days before using real capital.
The Practical Takeaway for Average Investors ACTION PLAN
Step 1Build your AI infrastructure core via ETFs first.
QQQ, SMH, or a combination of sector ETFs gives you the same thematic concentration as the Pelosi portfolio without single-stock risk or options complexity. This is the right starting point for 95% of investors.
Step 2Add one or two individual names you have high conviction on.
If you have done your research and have strong conviction on Nvidia, Amazon, or Alphabet specifically — add a small position in one or two names rather than all nine at once. Concentration without research is just gambling. Concentration with research is what Paul Pelosi is doing.
Step 3Do your December tax planning intentionally — every year.
In October, review your taxable portfolio for positions where you have large unrealized gains. Decide before December whether to realize those gains this year or next based on your expected tax situation. If you plan to donate to charity, set up a donor-advised fund and contribute appreciated shares directly. These are free moves that cost nothing except the time to do them.
Step 4If you want to try LEAPS — paper trade first, start small, size for full loss.
Paper trade a LEAPS position for 60–90 days on a platform like Thinkorswim or Webull before using real capital. When you go live: buy deep in-the-money calls (delta of 0.70 or higher) on stocks you have studied thoroughly, target expirations 12–18 months out, and size the position so that a 100% loss on the options premium would represent no more than 2–5% of your total portfolio.
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About the author: Jenny is a CPA with experience in the wealth and asset management industry, valuation, and financial reporting. She writes about practical investing strategies, tax optimization, and long-term wealth building for average earners.
Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and not financial advice. The author is a CPA and not a registered investment adviser. Nothing in this post constitutes a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Congressional trade disclosures are public information sourced from STOCK Act filings via Benzinga, U.S. News, Capitol Trades, and InsiderFinance as of June 2026. Options trading involves significant risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Always consult a qualified investment professional before making investment decisions.
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