AI insiders netted $7.4B in stock sales before market tumble

Before the recent market downturn, insiders at publicly traded artificial intelligence firms sold $7.4 billion worth of shares near peak levels between May and October — timing that proved fortuitous. The PHLX Semiconductor Sector index, which tracks major AI stocks, has dropped 32% from its October high.

Since November began, that closely watched AI benchmark has fallen 16%. On Thursday alone, US-listed equities saw $3.2 trillion wiped from their market capitalization in a single session. The Nasdaq 100 index sank 6.4% on the same day.

The sell-off was steeper in some overseas markets. South Korea's KOSPI index triggered a limit-down circuit breaker after plunging 8.5%.

For insiders at AI companies, however, the substantial realized gains are already banked.

Based on 282 SEC Form 4 filings from May through October, insiders at nine US AI firms cashed out $7.39 billion. After removing $179 million tied to tax-related transactions, voluntary sales still exceeded $7.2 billion across 243 filings.

Executives and directors at Nvidia, Oracle, Micron, Broadcom, AMD, SanDisk, CoreWeave, Arista, and Astera Labs were behind the selling, locking in advantageous prices.

Among them was Nvidia director Mark Stevens, who sold $407 million in June and disclosed to the SEC his capacity to dispose of another 5 million shares then valued at over $1 billion.

Across five filings this year, Stevens has disposed of more than 6 million shares of NVDA common stock, totaling $1.3 billion at prices ranging from $210 to $235 per share.

Four other insiders contributed $24.5 million to the overall Nvidia insider selling figure. For comparison, Nvidia closed at $181.60 per share in the prior trading session.

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Read more: Nvidia director Mark Stevens sold a record $411M of stock

A barrage of AI insider selling

Protos has also covered Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli's insider sales totaling $750 million in 2026, with three other Broadcom insiders adding $33.7 million.

At AMD, seven insiders collected $262 million via 19 SEC Form 4 filings. AMD's stock dropped 17.3% on Thursday to $404.40, off 38.6% from its earlier yearly peak of $658.52.

AMD CEO Lisa Su sold 360,000 shares for $169 million, including $55.4 million in late summer. Forrest Norrod banked $34.4 million, CTO Mark Papermaster netting $26.3 million, and four other executives sold $32.6 million.

This pattern of selling at elevated levels was repeated elsewhere.

SanDisk CEO David Goeckeler pocketed $105 million across two September filings at $1,523 to $1,587 per share. Five other insiders contributed $26.4 million, bringing the company's total to $131 million. SanDisk closed at $806.43 per share yesterday, well below its yearly peak of $2,354.39.

At CoreWeave, Protos has documented $740 million in insider sales following its inclusion in the Nasdaq 100. In total, across 141 filings this year, 12 CoreWeave insiders have sold $2.88 billion.

CoreWeave fell on Thursday to close 68% below its 2026 peak.

Micron insiders collected $279 million through 18 filings, led by CEO Sanjay Mehrotra's $182 million in sales.

At Oracle, three insiders combined for $69 million across four filings, with Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley leading at $63.7 million.