Nvidia insiders unloaded over $1 billion worth of Nvidia shares in the last year, and there has been a recent rush of sales as they tapped into growing excitement around artificial intelligence.
Over half a billion dollars of those shares were sold in June alone, as Nvidia’s stock climbed to an all-time high. Investors returned in force, making the California-based chip designer the highest valued company in the world. They are betting that demand for the specialized processors needed to run AI applications will remain strong.
Nvidia stock price.
The recent upswing follows a roller-coaster year, when Nvidia’s shares felt pressure from U.S.-China trade disputes and advances in AI technology from Chinese firms that threatened to cut into its business.
Since September, this week was the first time that Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, sold any shares. The company confirmed that all of Huang’s transactions were executed under a trading plan established in March. This plan spells out the exact dates and prices when sales can occur. Even after these trades, he still holds most of his stock.
Ben Silverman, vice-president of research at VerityData, praised Huang’s timing. “When the stock dipped in the first quarter, he did not sell, which was really smart,” Silverman noted. “He waited for the stock to return to levels that he felt more comfortable selling at.”
According to VerityData, Nvidia’s rise past $150 per share has set off Huang’s sales. His selling began soon after the mandatory 90-day cool-off period. These plans are common among executives and directors to shield them from insider trading accusations.
Under the terms of his plan, Huang may sell up to 6 million shares before year’s end. At current prices, that could net him more than $900 million. Forbes estimates his personal net worth at about $138 billion.
Nvidia’s market value has ballooned to roughly $3.8 trillion in just a couple of years, fueled by massive spending from corporations and governments on the computing power behind AI.
Other senior figures at Nvidia are also cashing in
Mark Stevens, a former Sequoia Capital partner and one of Nvidia’s earliest backers, disclosed on June 2 that he planned to offload as many as 4 million shares, now worth around $550 million. He has sold shares totalling about $288 million.
The executive vice-president of Nvidia’s worldwide field operations and a 20-year company veteran who often represents Huang in meetings with Chinese officials, sold roughly $25 million in stock on Wednesday.
Along with that, two more board directors also moved shares this month. Tench Coxe sold approximately $143 million on June 9, while Brooke Seawell disposed of about $48 million of her holdings.
Coxe, a former Sutter Hill Ventures managing director, has served on Nvidia’s board since the company’s early days. Ms. Seawell joined in 1997 and is now a partner at New Enterprise Associates; she formerly held an executive role at Synopsys, a company that makes software for chip design.
Nvidia’s stock has bounced back sharply in the past few weeks. Since hitting its April low, the company’s market value has climbed by about $1.5 trillion. That slump had come after Chinese firm DeepSeek announced its own breakthroughs in AI, and the U.S. imposed new controls and export limits on advanced AI chips bound for China.
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