Pelosi Got Very Wealthy While In Congress: Here’s How
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California has amassed staggering personal wealth during her decades in public office — a surge that has only intensified scrutiny over stock trading by members of Congress.
Pelosi, who served as House speaker twice and announced Thursday that she will retire from Congress in 2027, entered office in 1987 reporting a minimum net worth of $2,675,036. By 2024, that number had ballooned to at least $63,996,050, according to an analysis of her financial disclosures by the Daily Caller News Foundation. A separate assessment from Quiver Quantitative places her current net worth dramatically higher — at roughly $278.76 million.
Her 2024 disclosures estimated her maximum possible net worth at $311,443,000. Comparable maximum-range figures were not reported in her early disclosures, making the current contrast even more striking.
At age 85, Pelosi’s investment portfolio nearly doubled the performance of the S&P 500 in 2024, according to previous reporting. The returns have fueled persistent allegations that the Pelosi family may have benefited from insider knowledge of industries Congress regulates — claims that have circulated for years as her husband, Paul Pelosi, executed well-timed trades in major tech firms and other sectors.
Pelosi’s office has repeatedly pushed back on the accusations, arguing she does not personally direct the trades.
Her office has stated she does not personally own or manage stocks, nor does she have advance knowledge of the trades. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, handles their financial portfolio independently.
Despite years of defending lawmakers’ ability to trade stocks, Pelosi reversed course in July and expressed support for Republican-led legislation to bar members of Congress — as well as sitting presidents and vice presidents — from trading stocks while in office. Her announcement came the same day President Donald J. Trump publicly called for an investigation into whether she benefited from insider information.
“We must have strong transparency, robust accountability and tough enforcement for financial conduct in office because the American people deserve confidence that their elected leaders are serving the public interest — not their personal portfolios,” Pelosi said.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced the legislation on July 30.
President Trump has previously criticized Pelosi’s trading history.
“She has inside information. It’s not right. It’s not appropriate. It shouldn’t be,” Trump told Breitbart News in 2022. “She doesn’t want to discuss that. She wants to discuss other things that shouldn’t be discussed.
“Some of the things that they’re proposing now, like impeaching someone for absolutely no reason for a perfect phone call. You look at that. You look at impeachment—both of them. But you get impeached for a phone call that was like perfecto. So many different things,” he continued.
“I happen to watch her and see her and dealt with her a lot and I think she’s clever in one way and stone-cold crazy. She should not be allowed to do that with the stocks. She should not be allowed to do that. It’s not fair to the rest of this country,” Trump added.
Growing bipartisan frustration over congressional stock trading has prompted members in both parties to push for stricter rules. The New York Post reported that Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) sought a Republican partner to advance legislation barring lawmakers and their immediate families from stock trading while in office.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has gone even further. After reports spotlighting questionable trades by multiple officials, Hawley introduced the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, which would prohibit members of Congress and their spouses from owning or trading individual stocks and require violators to forfeit profits.
Hawley argued the reforms are long overdue:
“Year after year, politicians somehow manage to outperform the market, buying and selling millions in stocks of companies they’re supposed to be regulating. Wall Street and Big Tech work hand-in-hand with elected officials to enrich each other at the expense of the country. Here’s something we can do: ban all members of Congress from trading stocks and force those who do to pay their proceeds back to the American people. It’s time to stop turning a blind eye to Washington profiteering.”