ZINGER KEY POINTS

• Zuckerberg's foundation cashes out $733 million as Meta shares peak, dodging a 32% plummet.

• Dimon and Catz join the pre-tariff exodus, securing millions before market mayhem ensues.

Insiders including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle Corp.’s Safra Catz and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon cashed out shares worth billions of dollars before President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements roiled markets.

Zuckerberg sold 1.1 million shares worth $733 million in the first quarter through his Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and its related foundation, according to an analysis by the Washington Service, which tracks insider buying and selling. All of the sales were in January and February when Meta’s stock was still trading above $600, hitting a peak of more than $736 on Valentine’s Day. The social-media company’s share price has since slid by 32% amid the broader market selloff.

Another top seller was Catz, Oracle’s chief executive officer, who unloaded 3.8 million shares worth $705 million before the tech giant’s stock fell more than 30%. Those proceeds, combined with her remaining stake and investment portfolio, give her a fortune of $2.4 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is valuing her net worth for the first time.

Dimon, CEO of the largest US bank, sold about $234 million of stock during the quarter. He has a net worth of $3 billion, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.

The first quarter was a volatile period for markets. While technology stocks saw a surge early in Trump’s presidency, the uncertainty over tariffs in the lead up to April 2 — his so-called Liberation Day — helped prompt a selloff that chopped trillions of dollars off global markets. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has seen his wealth tumble $129 billion so far this year as uncertainty over tariffs, which could affect everything from phones to semiconductors, have hit tech industry stocks hard. Already, some billionaire insiders are using the opportunity to buy shares at depressed prices and increase their stakes.

Insider selling overall was down compared with the first quarter of 2024, which saw 4,702 insiders unload shares worth a total of $28.1 billion, compared with $15.5 billion from 3,867 sellers this year, according to Washington Service. The bulk of last year’s sales came from Jeff Bezos, who disposed of Amazon.com Inc. shares worth more than $8.5 billion in February. This year’s first-quarter totals were more evenly distributed with 10 sellers unloading stock worth more than $3.8 billion.

Here are the top insider sellers during the first three months of the year, according to Washington Service:

1. Mark Zuckerberg
Chairman & CEO, Meta Platforms Inc.
Total shares sold: 1,102,945
Total value sold: $733,483,827

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and its foundation both sold shares steadily through January and February — all above a $600 share price — under a 10b5-1 plan adopted by the billionaire in August. The 1.1 million shares garnered $733 million for the groups. Zuckerberg’s net worth declined to its lowest level of the year on Thursday at $178 billion. That's down from a high on Feb. 14 when the Facebook co-founder was worth $259 billion. He remains the third-richest person in the world behind Musk and Bezos. A CZI spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.

2. Safra Catz
CEO of Oracle Corp.
Total shares sold: 3,805,082
Total value sold: $705,455,414

Catz typically exercises and sells shares as stock options are set to expire and she continued that pattern in early 2025, filings show. Under her 10b5-1 trading plan, Oracle’s CEO exercised 3.8 million stock options worth $705 million in January when the company’s stock was trading at more than $180. It’s since fallen more than 30%. Because of her selling pattern, Catz maintains a relatively small holding in Oracle compared with her overall fortune. Oracle didn’t respond to a request for comment on her net worth.

3. Nikesh Arora
Chairman & CEO, Palo Alto Networks Inc.
Total shares sold: 2,365,196
Total value sold: $432,371,610

The billionaire, a former SoftBank Group Corp. executive, has been exercising and selling Palo Alto Networks stock options at the beginning of every month under a 10b5-1 plan adopted in March 2024. The monthly sales have continued in April, bringing the total value sold this year to more than $565 million at an exercise cost of more than $100 million.

4. Max de Groen
Director, Nutanix Inc.
Total shares sold: 5,500,000
Total value sold: $409,805,000

The Bain Capital partner serves on the board of cloud-computing company Nutanix. Last summer Bain converted a note and received 16.9 million shares. At the time, de Groen said the firm had no intention of selling. Eight months later, Bain offloaded about a third of its stake, which is reported under de Groen’s name. Between July’s note conversion and the March 4 stock sale, Nutanix’s share price increased more than 56%. Since the sale, Nutanix has dropped 20% amid pressure on tech stocks. The firm declined to comment.

5. Chuck Davis
Director, Axis Capital Holdings Ltd.
Total shares sold: 4,373,673
Total value sold: $399,999,882

The Stone Point Capital co-CEO serves on the board of Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance company Axis Capital Holdings. In February and March, Axis agreed to two $200 million stock repurchase agreements from an investment vehicle managed by Stone Point.

6. Stephen Cohen
President, Palantir Technologies Inc.
Total shares sold: 4,060,000
Total value sold: $337,239,916

Palantir insiders cashed out more than $4 billion last year and have carried the trend into 2025. Cohen sold more than $337 million of shares in the first quarter under a 10b5-1 plan. The software company’s stock has been on a wild ride, nearly doubling from mid-January to mid-February, and is still up 24% for the year thanks to investor interest in the defense industry. Cohen is currently worth about $3.3 billion, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index, mostly from stock options in the Denver-based company.

7. Jamie Dimon
Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Total shares sold: 866,361
Total value sold: $233,776,513

Dimon sold shares worth more than $233 million on Feb. 20, two days after the bank’s stock hit a 2025 high. The sales were his first in almost a year, though he has continued to sell in the second quarter. On April 14, Dimon sold an additional 133,639 shares worth $31.5 million, bringing the total value of stock he’s disposed of this year to more than a quarter-billion dollars.

8. Eric Lefkofsky
Chairman & CEO, Tempus AI Inc.
Total shares sold: 4,052,579
Total value sold: $231,462,927

The co-founder of Groupon Inc. took his Google-backed health-care company Tempus AI public in June and its shares have since increased more than 9%. A spokesperson for the Chicago-based firm said some of Lefkofsky’s sales were initiated by the company to cover IPO-related expenses. The CEO has a 10b5-1 plan in place that calls for selling 1% of his stock a quarter, the spokesperson said in a statement.

9. Ted Sarandos
Co-CEO, Netflix Inc.
Total shares sold: 199,063
Total value sold: $194,880,917

Sarandos adopted a new 10b5-1 plan in October to sell 199,063 shares before February 2026. He sold that number of shares on Jan. 30, netting about $173 million after spending $21 million to exercise the options, which expire between 2026 and 2032. A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment.

10. Travis Boersma
Co-founder & Chairman, Dutch Bros Inc.
Total shares sold: 2,500,000
Total value sold: $189,611,197

The Dutch Bros. co-founder reported selling 2.5 million shares worth almost $190 million over a five-day period in February. The stock was held by trusts controlled by Boersma, who started the Oregon-based coffee company with his late brother in 1992. Boersma, a former dairy farmer, became a billionaire in 2021 after the firm went public.