Nancy Pelosi beat the market by 581%: Here are her 5 biggest wins and what you can learn from each one

Conservative commentator Scott Jennings recently joked on X that “President Trump should hire Nancy Pelosi in retirement to manage Americans' stock market portfolios. She beat the S&P 500 by 559%. We could all be retired in 6 months!” (1) The sarcasm aside, the numbers Pelosi leaves behind heading into retirement tell a startling truth.

Over the past decade, Pelosi's portfolio has generated an estimated 838% cumulative return, beating the S&P 500's 256% return by 581% at time of writing. In 2024 alone, her portfolio jumped 70.9% compared to the S&P 500's 24.9% gain. Pelosi's personal net worth has skyrocketed to over $278 million according to Quiver Quant data (2).

These aren't actually Nancy Pelosi's trades directly — her husband Paul Pelosi, a venture capitalist, handles investments for the Pelosi family. Due to the STOCK Act of 2012, members of Congress must publicly disclose their spouse's trades. Despite the ethics debate, these five trades reveal timeless investing principles anyone can apply.

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5. Tempus AI (NASDAQ:TEM): Bet on healthcare

On January 13, 2025, Pelosi purchased 50 Tempus AI call options at a $20 strike, valued between $50,001 and $100,000. The stock has surged more than 150% in 2025, a clear case of the "Pelosi effect" — stocks often jump when her trades are disclosed, especially small cap stocks like TEM.

The lesson: Tempus uses AI for cancer diagnostics. Healthcare is a recession-resistant industry generally and AI adoption is accelerating. Shortly after Pelosi's purchase, Tempus signed a $200 million deal with AstraZeneca in April 2025. When big pharma writes nine-figure checks, they've done extensive due diligence. Keep in mind, though, that small-caps are volatile so it's best to limit them to 5-10% of your portfolio. Track FDA approvals, medicare decisions, and pharmaceutical partnerships to look for signals into which companies are interesting in the space.

4. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT): Follow government contracts

On March 19, 2021, Pelosi exercised options to buy 15,000 Microsoft shares at $130. This move came just 12 days before Microsoft announced a $22 billion Army contract. The timing raised eyebrows, but no wrongdoing was proven. Microsoft has more than doubled since.

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The lesson: Defense, healthcare, and infrastructure contracts are multi-year commitments with bipartisan support giving them staying power and likelihood of renewal if things go well. Companies like Microsoft and Palantir benefit from predictable revenue, as a result, that doesn't fluctuate alongside consumer interests. Government contract awards are public at USASpending.gov and you can see which companies are winning bids. Microsoft's diversification (Azure cloud, LinkedIn, Xbox, GitHub and OpenAI partnership) also provides stability. When one business slumps, the others compensate.

3. Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO): Stock split gone right

In June 2024, Pelosi purchased 20 Broadcom call options at an $800 strike price — just weeks before the company's 10-for-1 stock split. She later exercised those options, purchasing 20,000 shares at a 71% discount to market price. The stock has more than doubled, generating potential gains exceeding $3 million.

The lesson: While consumer-facing AI companies face uncertain business models, Broadcom provides networking chips powering AI data centers for Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Infrastructure companies benefit from AI growth without betting on which applications succeed. Broadcom's Google partnership is expected to generate over $8 billion — the kind of contract signaling which tech giants are winning. Infrastructure plays offer stability even during downturns.

2. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA): A massive AI infrastructure play

In November 2023, Paul Pelosi purchased 50 NVIDIA call options for approximately $1.88 million (13). By mid-2024, those options had ballooned to $5.83 million—delivering nearly $4 million in gains. NVIDIA is now her biggest holding.

The lesson: During the California Gold Rush, most prospectors went broke, while merchants selling pickaxes made fortunes. NVIDIA can be considered the modern equivalent. While hundreds of AI startups will fail, NVIDIA provides the essential chips powering everything from ChatGPT to autonomous vehicles. When EVs boom, battery manufacturers win. When streaming explodes, cloud infrastructure providers profit. Instead of betting on which AI startup or new business venture succeeds, invest in companies enabling the entire ecosystem.

1. Alphabet Inc. AKA Google (NASDAQ:GOOG): Play the long game

In 2021, Paul Pelosi's 40 Alphabet call options converted to 4,000 shares, producing approximately a $5 million windfall. The Pelosis have bought Google repeatedly across multiple years. Alphabet currently represents 14% of their portfolio.

The lesson: Google controls over 90% of global search, owns YouTube, and leads in cloud computing and AI. It recently delivered its first-ever $100B quarter in Q3 of 2025. Companies with network effects, where each user makes the service more valuable, compound advantages over time. The Pelosis haven't made one bet and walked away. They've consistently bought over time at different price points. This approach, called dollar-cost averaging, reduces timing risk. If you find a stock you trust and believe in its long-term value, set up automatic monthly investments. You'll find that consistency beats timing, more often than not.

Read more: Are you richer than you think? Here are 5 clear signs you’re punching way above the average American’s wealth

The PELOSI act controversy

Congressional stock trading has become one of the most contentious ethics issues in Washington. The STOCK Act requires disclosure within 45 days, but members receive classified briefings on economic conditions before the public.

When pressed in 2021, Pelosi defended trading: "We are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that" (3). She's since supported stricter rules, but no ban has passed yet.

The ironically-named PELOSI Act (Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments) has been introduced but stalled. In 2024, 105 members of Congress traded nearly $290 million in stocks according to a report from Unusual Whales (4).

Whether individual trades involve insider information is often impossible to prove, but the system allows the appearance of conflicts. When it comes to public trust, appearance matters.

The way forward for investors

Here's the hard truth: You can't replicate Nancy Pelosi's strategy, and you shouldn't try.

When you see a Pelosi trade disclosed, you're already 45 days behind. That NVIDIA option purchase that made $4 million? By the time it hit public disclosures, market conditions had changed. You're seeing the movie after it's over, and for those of us not sitting in on confidential briefings it's very difficult to time the market.

So stop trying to copy trades and start applying principles.

Think in decades, not days. Pelosi's best returns came from positions held for years — Google since 2021, Microsoft since before that, NVIDIA accumulated over time. The money wasn't made jumping in and out. It was made identifying quality companies and giving them time to compound.

Fidelity once studied which accounts performed best. The answer? Accounts of people who had forgotten entirely or those who had died. They couldn't panic-sell during crashes or chase hot assets. They just held on and beat active traders.

Build your portfolio like a pyramid. Use the time-honored advice of building a strong base (think 80%) in low-cost index funds, Vanguard Total Stock Market (NYSEARCA:VTI) or S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:VOO). You'll own Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, and Amazon automatically. With the rest of your portfolio, get specific. Believe in AI's potential? Buy a technology ETF. Think clean energy will dominate? Add renewable energy funds. These sector bets let you capitalize on themes without risking everything.

If you play with individual stock picks, go for high conviction buys only and keep it small enough that being wrong doesn't derail your plan.

Automate everything. Set up automatic monthly contributions and stop checking your accounts daily. Choose an amount you can invest, $100, $500, whatever fits. The money moves on payday before you can spend it elsewhere. This dollar-cost averaging means you buy more shares when prices are low, fewer when high.

Next step is stop looking so often, check quarterly and rebalance annually. Don't panic when you see red. Downturns are when your automatic contributions buy shares on sale.

Write it down, stick to it. Every investment decision, write down your reasoning. Why this company? What competitive advantage? What would make you sell? How much? What's your time horizon? When the stock drops 20% and panic sets, re-read your thesis with this lens: "Has anything fundamental changed, or is this normal volatility?"

The bottom line

Nancy Pelosi's 838% return is extraordinary, but you don't need to match it to build wealth.

Keeping consistent investments streaming into your accounts with money you won't need for years. Own diversified assets capturing economic growth and avoid panic-selling during market downturns.

Do that for 20, 30, 40 years, and you'll be wealthier than 90% of people who tried getting rich quick on trending trades. Sometimes, boring wins. And in investing, boring almost always wins.

Writer's note: The Pelosi plays highlighted above come from options trading, a strategy which is exceptionally risky — approximately 70% expire worthless. If you don't fully understand options mechanics, size up small stock positions instead. I also do not currently hold positions in any of these companies. Still hurting about missing NVIDIA, don't want to talk about it. This article was written for entertainment purposes and is not intended as investment advice.

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Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

X.com (1); QuiverQuant (2); The Associated Press (3); Unusual Whales (4)

This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Nancy Pelosi beat the market by 581%: Here are her 5 biggest wins and what you can learn from each one

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