Tech billionaires cashed out $16 billion in 2025 as stocks soared
While tech stocks were busy setting records in 2025, the executives behind these companies were just as busy turning their paper fortunes into actual cash. Worth $16 billionThis is evident from Bloomberg’s analysis of insider trading data.
Jeff Bezos led the way. The Amazon founder sold 25 million shares for $5.7 billion in June and July, right around the time he was getting married to Lauren Sanchez in Venice. Oracle’s former CEO Safra Catz wasn’t far behind with $2.5 billion, followed by Michael Dell with $2.2 billion.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang watched his company become the first company in the world to reach $5 trillion in sales, selling $1 billion along the way. Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal made nearly $1 billion as demand for the company’s high-speed networking equipment soared and her personal net worth surpassed $6 billion.
Most of these sales occurred through prearranged trading plans that executives submit in advance; they were not spontaneous decisions. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg sold $945 million through his foundation, while Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora and Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt each pocketed more than $700 million.
The common thread was an AI-powered rally that continued to push tech stocks higher throughout the year.
