MOST CORRUPT SERIES: Nancy Pelosi

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:07]This video is sponsored by Nola.

[00:00:11]Millions of Americans try to play the market.

[00:00:15]They save, they invest, they lose, and they hope.

[00:00:20]And most of the time, they're guessing.

[00:00:22]But in Washington, there's a different game being played.

[00:00:26]Because for decades, one political name has made trade after trade with near perfect timing, consistently beating the market, landing inside the biggest winning sectors, and walking away with massive gains.

[00:00:40]And the person at the center of it all wasn't just any investor.

[00:00:45]She was one of the most powerful lawmakers in the United States.

[00:00:49]Writing policy, steering industries, and sitting in rooms the public never sees.

[00:00:56]And somehow, the money kept lining up with the decisions.

[00:01:01]Her name is Nancy Pelosi.

[00:01:05]Her family has built one of the most successful trading records associated with any public official in modern history.

[00:01:12]Not just large returns, >> [music] >> but consistent outperformance over time.

[00:01:17]Beating the broader market again and again.

[00:01:20]And that's where the questions begin.

[00:01:22]Because members of Congress don't just observe the market, they help shape it.

[00:01:28]They write laws that can move entire industries, direct federal funding, and determine which sectors rise or fall.

[00:01:37]And at the same time, they're allowed to participate in those very markets.

[00:01:43]In Pelosi's case, that meant holding investments in companies [music] directly tied to policies coming out of Washington.

[00:01:51]This episode breaks down that record, the timing of several high-profile trades, and the investments she held while those trades were being made.

[00:02:00]What emerges is not a single moment, but a pattern. One that has placed her at the center of a growing national debate.

[00:02:08]So, how has Nancy Pelosi made so much money in the market?

[00:02:13]Do the timing of these trades point to an advantage tied to her position?

[00:02:19]And what does this say about a system that lets lawmakers trade in the same industries they help control?

[00:02:27]Let's try to find out.

[00:02:30]Hello, I'm Mike Joburg, Marine Corps veteran and filmmaker, and we will try to answer these questions on today's episode of Forgotten History.

[00:02:40]Beginning of the toughest 26 days in Marine Corps history.

[00:02:44]With confidence in our armed forces 36th President of the United States died [music] this afternoon.

[00:02:50]>> Go in there, children and women in here, and then call it off.

[00:03:08]The Wolf of Washington could be in big trouble. Investigators might finally get a peek inside Nancy and Paul E. P.'s earning sheets.

[00:03:16]Nancy Pelosi should be investigated because what she has the highest return of anybody practically in the history of Wall Street. It happened by she knows exactly what's going to happen, what's going to be announced, she buys stock, and then the stock goes up.

[00:03:31]Nancy Pelosi's family has built a track record in the market that stands out even among seasoned investors.

[00:03:38]Since she first entered Congress in 1987, what began as a comfortable portfolio of around 1 to 5 million has grown into an estimated net worth exceeding 270 million.

[00:03:53]That growth did not come from a few isolated wins.

[00:03:57]It has been sustained over the decades.

[00:03:59]Estimates place the total return of the Pelosi portfolio at well over 16,000% since the late 1980s, averaging roughly 14% annually.

[00:04:12]Over long stretches, that level of performance has exceeded the S&P 500 by a wide margin. And it has continued into recent years.

[00:04:24]In 2024 alone, the portfolio saw gains reported between roughly 50 and 70%, more than double the market's return during the same period. That kind of outperformance, especially at that scale, has placed the Pelosis among the most closely watched in American politics, with investors and analysts [music] tracking trades as they are disclosed.

[00:04:51]Their portfolio has repeatedly moved ahead of the market year after year across different sectors and market conditions.

[00:04:59]Nancy Pelosi operated at the highest levels of government, serving as the Speaker of the House and holding influence over legislation that shaped major sectors of the economy.

[00:05:11]That position carries access that is not available to the public. Members of Congress are briefed on pending legislation and policy priorities before they are finalized.

[00:05:23]They see which proposals are gaining support and which are likely to stall.

[00:05:27]They understand where federal money is being directed and which industries are being targeted for expansion or oversight.

[00:05:36]When Congress moves on issues like technology, energy, or manufacturing, the impact is often immediate. Companies rise or fall >> [music] >> based on funding and regulation directly tied to government action.

[00:05:50]One of the most closely watched trades tied to the Pelosis involved Nvidia, a company sitting at the center of the semiconductor industry.

[00:06:00]In the summer of 2021, her husband, Paul Pelosi, purchased call options and shares in Nvidia.

[00:06:09]Hillary Vaughn has the story, and I guess how much did Pelosi's husband invest, Hillary?

[00:06:15]Ashley, over a million dollars, but this stock purchase by Speaker Pelosi's husband, Paul, is again sparking questions about conflict of interest and whether or not lawmakers and their spouses should be able to trade stock.

[00:06:28]Call options are essentially leveraged bets that a stock will go up, allowing an investor to control large investments with a relatively small upfront capital.

[00:06:39]At the same time, momentum was building in Washington around domestic semiconductor production.

[00:06:46]Lawmakers were working towards what would become the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill designed to invest tens of billions of dollars into the industry.

[00:06:56]The goal was clear, expand US manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains.

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[00:08:35]As that legislation moved forward, Nvidia remained one of the companies most closely tied to the sector's future growth.

[00:08:44]The Pelosis' investment placed them inside that surge, aligned with an industry receiving billions in federal backing while she remained at the center of legislative process shaping it.

[00:08:57]Then again in 2021, Pelosi invested in several major companies, [music] including Alphabet, Salesforce, Micron, and Roblox.

[00:09:08]Many of these were structured as call options.

[00:09:13]At the same time, Big Tech was under growing pressure in Washington.

[00:09:17]Lawmakers were openly discussing new regulations with proposals aimed at limiting the power of these companies moving through Congress.

[00:09:26]No one knew exactly how far those rules would go.

[00:09:31]But even with that uncertainty, those investments were still being placed and held.

[00:09:38]That meant her portfolio stayed heavily invested in some of the biggest tech companies in the world right as their future was being debated at the federal level.

[00:09:48]Over time, those bets paid off, adding to the broader pattern repeated investments in industries directly affected by government action.

[00:09:59]A similar moment came with Tesla.

[00:10:01]Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, has bought over $2 million in Tesla stock this month alone as lawmakers push to ban Congress and their spouses from stock trades and the administration continues to push electric vehicles and a green agenda. Soon after, the federal government rolled out a major push into electric vehicles.

[00:10:26]The plan included large-scale spending on EV infrastructure, sending a clear signal about where the policy was headed. The market responded quickly and Tesla stock climbed in the days that followed.

[00:10:41]The investment was already in place when that shift became public.

[00:10:46]They invested in something right as the government was pushing policies that would help the industry.

[00:10:53]The Pelosis would make an estimated $5 million of profit on that deal.

[00:10:59]However, Nancy Pelosi has consistently pushed back on the idea that these trades are connected to a role in government. She has stated that she does not personally buy or sell individual stocks, does not direct trades made by her household.

[00:11:17]Nancy Pelosi became rich >> really have to read that. We're here to talk about the 60th anniversary of Medicaid. That's what I agreed to come to talk about.

[00:11:25]>> Yeah, but I wanted to >> means in the election. I wanted to give you a chance just to respond. He accused you of insider trading. What's your response to that?

[00:11:33]That's very ridiculous. In fact, I very much support the stop the the trading of members of Congress. Not that I think anybody's doing anything wrong. If they are, they are prosecuted and they go to jail. But because of the confidence it instills in American people, don't worry about this.

[00:11:52]But I have no concern about the obvious investments that had been made over time. I'm not into it. My husband is.

[00:12:02]According to her office, financial decisions are handled by her husband, Paul Pelosi, who has spent decades working as an investor.

[00:12:11]She has said that she is not involved in the execution of those trades and does not discuss specific investments with him.

[00:12:19]She has also pointed out that all required disclosures have been filed under current law.

[00:12:26]No formal charges related to insider trading have been brought against her and no investigations has produced a finding that she used non-public information for financial gain.

[00:12:38]The STOCK Act requires members of Congress to disclose their trades, but not immediately. Those reports can come weeks after the fact.

[00:12:48]By the time the public sees what happened, the trade is already over and the market has already moved.

[00:12:56]Enforcement also leaves room for doubt.

[00:12:59]Late filings are common and the penalties are minimal.

[00:13:03]In most cases, the consequences for a missed disclosure is a small fine.

[00:13:08]There's little in place that actively deters aggressive trading behavior as long as it stays within the written rules.

[00:13:16]That creates a gap between what is legal and what raises concern.

[00:13:21]Lawmakers are allowed to operate inside markets that could be influenced by the work they do with access to information and timelines that are not evenly shared.

[00:13:32]Even when no law is broken, that structure can still produce outcomes that draw attention and erode confidence.

[00:13:41]As scrutiny around congressional stock trading intensified, Nancy Pelosi was leading the House at the time when the issue was gaining national attention with proposals being introduced to restrict or ban trading by Congress and their families.

[00:13:56]That placed her in a position to act.

[00:13:59]Bills were brought forward and support for reform began to build across party lines. However, despite that momentum, no lasting reform was put in place during her tenure as speaker.

[00:14:12]The system [music] did not change.

[00:14:15]Congress continued to operate under the same framework >> [music] >> with the same ability to participate in the market.

[00:14:23]Nancy Pelosi's record sits inside a larger system that applies to every member of Congress.

[00:14:29]Lawmakers are allowed to trade stocks while working on legislation that can directly affect the same companies and industries.

[00:14:37]Public disclosures show that this is not limited to one office or [music] one set of trades.

[00:14:43]Members routinely hold positions in sectors tied to their committee work or policy focus.

[00:14:50]Technology, energy, finance, [music] and healthcare are all areas where legislative decisions can shift market value, sometimes quickly.

[00:15:01]What makes Pelosi's case stand out is the scale and the visibility.

[00:15:05]>> [music] >> Her role placed her at the highest level of influence and her household's performance >> [music] >> brought sustained attention.

[00:15:13]The combination turned her into a reference point in a debate that extends far beyond a single portfolio.

[00:15:20]The system allows participation in market that can be shaped by the same people taking part in it.

[00:15:26]To many, this incentivizes elected officials to act counter to the interests of the people that vote for them.

[00:15:34]While Pelosi's record in the market has never been tied to a formal finding of insider trading, it still concerns many.

[00:15:42]Her trades are disclosed, [music] the rules have been followed, and the activity falls within the framework that governs Congress.

[00:15:50]Even so, the pattern remains.

[00:15:53]A long track record of strong returns, investments placed in industries tied to federal action, and timing that draws repeated attentions.

[00:16:04]Well, I like it conceptually. I don't know about it, but I like it conceptually and you know, Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information.

[00:16:14]She made a fortune with her husband and I I think that's disgraceful. [music] These trades have made Nancy Pelosi the face of congressional insider trading in the eyes of many observers.

[00:16:26]Yes, Nancy Pelosi followed the rules.

[00:16:29]Her trades were disclosed. No court has found her guilty of insider trading.

[00:16:35]But that's exactly what makes this harder to ignore.

[00:16:39]Because of the rules allowed this, then who are those rules really written for?

[00:16:44]The people trying to build a future in the market or the people quietly cashing in while shaping it?

[00:16:52]Let us know your thoughts about Nancy Pelosi in the comments below. [music] Thank you for watching Forgotten History. Please like, share, and subscribe. If you have any comments or show ideas, we'd love to hear from you.

[00:17:07]Thanks again.