Nvidia board director cashed out $1 billion in stock before Jensen Huang scandal

Nvidia Board Director Mark Stevens sold about 4.2 million of his shares, netting him around $1 billion in cash, almost exactly two months before Jensen Huang was accused of having “close ties” to an alleged Chinese spy. According to Moneywise.com, Stevens started the sale from August 31 to September 2, when Nvidia stock hovered between $220 and $226, which made him $411 million. The next tranche, totaling $236 million, came in the next couple of days as Nvidia traded from $227 to $234. The final sale happened on September 18 at around $220 per share, making Stevens approximately $300 million. These three transactions would have made him somewhere around $947 million.

Last year, Jensen Huang sold up to six million Nvidia shares, netting him around $925 million. However, unlike Stevens, who had no plan, this move was announced six months earlier in a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan to help avoid accusations of insider trading.

Nvidia’s stock price has taken a beating since the scandal broke, with the company trading at $162.85 at the time of writing, its lowest level in the past 12 months. When the story first broke at the end of October, Nvidia shares were at around $205. It then started sliding, with the price at $178.67 after Jensen admitted to the affair last Sunday, although he did not name the involved party.

A second affair was revealed a few days after the former Nvidia chief’s confession, leading to his resignation from the company a few hours after that. The news sent Nvidia stock down to $151.09 — a nearly 25% drop from before the scandal. It recovered somewhat after the initial shock, climbing to nearly $170 before Friday’s trading, but took a beating again soon after the market opened.

Despite the sale, Stevens still holds about 27.5 million Nvidia shares, making him the second-largest shareholder after Jensen and Lori Huang. The price difference between today and September 18 is around $57, meaning he would have lost 25% of the value if he had sold after the scandal broke. Furthermore, his remaining Nvidia shares have lost more than $1.5 billion in value in just one quarter. Still, selling one’s holdings in a company as a board director does not constitute a crime. After all, it's unlikely that one could have predicted how hard Jensen Huang would fall in such a short time.

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