Decoding SEC Insider Selling Filings: Executives at 9 AI Giants Cashed Out $7.4 Billion at Peak Prices Ahead of U.S. Stock Market Crash
Author: Protos Staff
Compiled by: TechFlow
TechFlow: This week, Nasdaq tech stocks suffered a single-day plunge, with overseas markets even triggering circuit breakers. However, regulatory filings disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that months before the crash began, top executives at core Silicon Valley hardware and cloud computing giants had already initiated an epic wave of asset liquidation. Based on 282 genuine SEC Form 4 filing documents, this article dissects the actual landscape of billions in capital precisely exiting at peak valuations.
Precise Mass Exit on the Eve of the Crash
Over a six-month period from May to October this year, core insiders across nine top U.S.-listed AI companies collectively cashed out personal holdings worth up to $7.4 billion as share prices approached historical peaks.
Since November, Wall Street's closely watched core AI index has fallen cumulatively by 16%. During Thursday's intense sell-off, the U.S. tech sector alone lost over $3.2 trillion in market capitalization in a single day. Overseas peripheral markets faced indiscriminate devastation, with South Korea's KOSPI plummeting 8.5% and triggering its limit-down circuit breaker mechanism.
However, long before this liquidity stampede unfolded, traders and executives of the AI tech empire had already securely locked in massive profits.
Chart: Detailed breakdown of insider cash-outs and distribution among nine U.S.-listed AI companies from May to October
Sell-off List Behind Regulatory Filings
Regulatory statistics show that among the 282 SEC Form 4 insider trading reports filed from May to October, insiders across nine companies cumulatively cashed out $7.39 billion (excluding $179 million in forced sell-offs used to pay option taxes).
This wave of synchronized liquidations covered the top decision-making layers of NVIDIA, Oracle, Micron Technology, Broadcom, AMD, the parent company of SanDisk, CoreWeave, Arista Networks, and Astera Labs.
Among them, NVIDIA senior director Mark Stevens sold $407 million worth of shares in June alone and reported subsequent applications to the SEC for further liquidations. Year-to-date, Stevens has cumulatively sold over 6 million NVIDIA common shares through five regulatory filings, surpassing $1.3 billion in personal cash-outs.
Meanwhile, four other senior NVIDIA insiders added to their liquidations, selling $24.5 million worth of stock. During Thursday's crash, NVIDIA closed down 3.7%, marking a cumulative drawdown of 11.2% from its previous highs.
Full High-Level Liquidation of Silicon Valley Star Unicorn Insiders
At communications chip leader Broadcom, co-founder Henry Samueli cumulatively sold shares worth $750 million within 2026, while three other senior vice presidents jointly reduced holdings by $14 million.
In the AMD camp, seven internal executives cumulatively cashed out $262 million through 19 filings. During Thursday's crash, AMD stock plummeted 17.3% to close at $404.40, representing a cumulative drop of 38.6% from its previous historical peak. AMD CEO Lisa Su personally sold 360,000 shares for $169 million, while executive Forrest Norrod also pocketed $45 million.
SanDisk CEO David Goeckeler made two high-position filings in September, cashing out $105 million, while five other insiders jointly realized $41 million.
As the leading force in computing clouds, CoreWeave saw cumulative insider liquidations reaching $740 million after its inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 Index. As of Thursday's close, CoreWeave's stock had dropped sharply by 68% from its 2026 peak.
At storage chip giant Micron Technology, insiders filed 18 applications totaling $279 million in cash-outs, with CEO Sanjay Mehrotra accounting for $182 million individually. Meanwhile at Oracle, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley led a $63.7 million reduction.
These objective data points derived from fundamental capital market regulatory filings indicate: while retail investors and quantitative funds blindly bet on the infinite growth of AI compute power, industry insiders who truly understand hardware supply chain cycles and delivery bottlenecks have already completed confirmed profit-taking worth billions at peak levels.