Chris Josephs Knows Pelosi’s Stock Trades Better Than Anyone. He Says They Should Be Banned.

WASHINGTON—When Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement, mixed in among the tributes to the former House Speaker were a lot of jokes about stocks.

“‘America’s Greatest Investor’ gets dethroned!!!” conservative radio host Larry Elder wrote on X. “[Shout out] to Nancy Pelosi. [I]n Honor of your retirement, what other stocks should I invest in?” another user posted.

Pelosi has come under fire in recent years for her prolific stock trading, which, by some estimates, has earned her $130 million while in Congress. Although the California Democrat has not been charged with any wrongdoing, her uncanny ability to pick winning stocks has led many to suspect that Pelosi is using insider information to inform her trades.

On Autopilot, an investment app that allows users to model their trades off prominent investors like Warren Buffett, following Pelosi is now the biggest draw, co-founder Chris Josephs told The Daily Wire.

“It makes me sound like I’m faking stuff, but we have all the data,” Josephs said. “We track her filings. She quite literally outperforms hedge funds. There’s just no way around it. She literally just picks good stocks.” Last year, Autopilot estimated Nancy Pelosi made $28 million in profits from trades.

Josephs created Autopilot five years ago to let people follow their friends’ stock portfolios. Eventually, he realized he could grow the app by allowing users to follow successful investors. Once he understood the draw of Pelosi, he launched the Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker account on X, which brought the former speaker’s trades to an even wider audience.

Through his work, the world has seen Pelosi make massive gains from investments in big names such as Tesla and Nvidia, and her “perfectly-timed” investments are now part of her legacy. 

 Autopilot now has $1 billion in assets under management. That’s good for business, but bad for America, Josephs says.

“An app with the tagline ‘Invest like a Politician’ should not be this popular,” he says.

Josephs says he’s a supporter of the push by Pelosi’s colleagues for a bill to bar lawmakers from trading. The Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments — or PELOSI Act — is at the top of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) agenda for when the government reopens, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said earlier this month. “This should have happened long before Speaker Pelosi announced her retirement, but it’s time to ban Congressional stock trading,” Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) added.

“This is not a partisan issue,” Josephs told The Daily Wire. “If we can get this ban through, it literally benefits everybody.”

“There is no net negative for this bill not to go through except for the politicians. It will bring more trust. It’ll bring more transparency. It’ll bring more comfort knowing that these politicians actually pass things that don’t just benefit them,” Josephs added. “The American people need a win.” 

Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley agrees.

“Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve — not day trading at the expense of their constituents. Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public,” the Missouri Republican told The Daily Wire.

 

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“It’s time we ban all members of Congress from trading and holding stocks and restore Americans’ trust in our nation’s legislative body.”

Josephs says restoring trust in government institutions is Autopilot’s number one goal, even though a ban would affect their business. 

“We will welcome the revenue hit. We will welcome the marketing challenge of not having the Pelosi tracker because we think it brings more trust and transparency back into the institution.” 

In preparation, his team has been expanding its portfolio lineup, adding a tracker that allows investors to follow Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager who famously predicted the 2008 housing crisis and was immortalized in “The Big Short.”

Though Josephs favors the ban, he warns that lawmakers need to be careful about how they craft it, lest the legislation backfire. For instance, earlier versions of the stock trading ban required lawmakers to divest any ownership stakes in private companies.

“A lot of people have small businesses that they privately own,” Josephs said. “It’s really hard to sell these companies because the stock is illiquid and you have to find buyers.”

He also warned the legislation could backfire, cutting off some of the nation’s most capable talent from entering politics. 

“I think it would demotivate a major class of successful people from running for office,” he said. 

“Business people are successful. They know how to run things, how to lead, how to hire, how to create and execute strategies. We shouldn’t turn away those potential candidates because they own businesses that could be difficult to sell. They’d have to find the right price, the right buyer — it’s hard.” 

Josephs said he’s hopeful a version of the bill without that requirement will gain traction, beginning with a congressional hearing expected next week. However, he believes real momentum may not come until 2027 when Pelosi retires.

“Nancy’s a prominent figure, she’s very powerful. She ran the Democratic Party for years. My bet is that some lawmakers, especially on the Democratic side, are hesitant to support the ban publicly because of potential setbacks or headwinds from Nancy Pelosi coming after their camp,” he said. 

“The elephant in the room is she’s the face of this whole thing.”