Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold over $733 million worth of company stock in the first quarter of 2025, just weeks ahead of President Donald Trump’s April 2 announcement of sweeping new reciprocal tariffs, according to data obtained by Bloomberg via Washington Services.
Zuckerberg offloaded approximately 1.1 million shares between January and March through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and its affiliated foundation. The sales were executed under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan that was established in August 2024, designed to allow insiders to sell shares at scheduled intervals.
The timing, however, has reignited scrutiny over executive trading behavior during times of market instability, especially as Meta’s stock along with many others took a hit in the wake of Trump’s tariff declaration. Following the announcement, Zuckerberg’s net worth dipped to $178 billion, marking its lowest point of the year, as tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Zuckerberg’s sales continued into April, bringing his year-to-date total to approximately $565 million in proceeds, after accounting for $100 million in option exercise costs.
Executive Stock Sales Surge Amid Trade War Fears
Zuckerberg is among a growing list of high-profile executives who sold major portions of their stock holdings in the months leading up to escalating U.S. trade tensions.
Here’s a look at the key figures:
- Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, sold $705 million in stock options in January, when shares peaked around $180.
- Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks and former SoftBank exec, sold 2.36 million shares valued at over $432 million over several months.
- Max de Groen, director at Nutanix and partner at Bain Capital, sold 5.5 million shares worth around $410 million.
- Chuck Davis, co-CEO of Stone Point Capital and director at Axis Capital, unloaded 4.3 million shares totaling nearly $400 million.
- Stephen Cohen, President of Palantir, cashed out 4.06 million shares for approximately $337 million, as Palantir stock nearly doubled in early 2025.
- Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, sold over $265 million worth of stock across two transactions in February and April.
- Eric Lefkofsky, CEO of Tempus AI, offloaded over 4 million shares for $231.5 million under a 10b5-1 plan.
- Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO of Netflix, sold 199,063 shares valued at $194.9 million, tied to a new 10b5-1 plan active through 2026.
- Travis Boersma, co-founder of Dutch Bros, sold 2.5 million shares over a five-day stretch in February, netting $189.6 million.
The spate of sales many occurring shortly before or around geopolitical announcements is fueling renewed debate about the ethics and transparency of insider trading during volatile economic periods.
