While tech stocks were smashing records in 2025, the people who built those companies were quietly locking in billions.
Tech billionaires sold more than $16 billion worth of shares last year, according to Bloomberg’s analysis of insider trading disclosures. The selling spree tracks a market powered by an AI boom that kept pushing valuations higher.
Jeff Bezos was far out in front. The Amazon founder offloaded 25 million shares in June and July, cashing out around $5.7 billion. The timing lined up with his much-publicized wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice.
Oracle’s longtime leader Safra Catz followed with roughly $2.5 billion in stock sales. Michael Dell wasn’t far behind, selling about $2.2 billion worth of Dell Technologies shares.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined the list as his company briefly became the first $5 trillion firm on the planet. He sold about $1 billion in stock while Nvidia rode the AI data-center wave.
Arista Networks chief Jayshree Ullal also tapped the rally. She sold nearly $1 billion as demand for Arista’s high-speed networking hardware surged and her personal fortune climbed past $6 billion.
Most of these trades weren’t last-minute calls. They ran through pre-arranged stock sale plans that executives file ahead of time, a standard way for insiders to diversify while trying to avoid accusations of trading on non-public information.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg moved about $945 million in shares through his foundation. Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora and Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt each sold stock worth more than $700 million.
The common thread: a year-long, AI-driven tech rally that turned paper wealth into hard cash for Silicon Valley’s richest insiders — without slowing the market’s appetite for their companies’ shares.
