3 CEOs Selling Gobs of Stock Just Like the Head of SVB Did

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Greg Becker, the head of Silicon Valley Bank, sold nearly $30 million in stock in the two years leading up to the regional bank’s collapse. As a result, CEOs selling stock are again back in the headlines.

It’s not so much that investors are against CEOs selling stock. After all, we all have financial obligations to meet. However, insider sales tend to irk people when they happen immediately preceding an adverse event, as they did with Becker and SVB. 

Generally speaking, though, shareholders want to see CEOs and other insiders buying stock, not selling. CEOs selling stock in large amounts could signal trouble is afoot or that they believe shares are overvalued. Or it could mean nothing. 

But for those who are interested in CEOs selling stock, the following three companies stand out.

NOW
ServiceNow
$464.72
NVDA
Nvidia
$277.77
AVGO
Broadcom
$641.54

ServiceNow (NOW)

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) CEO Bill McDermott sold nearly 54,000 shares of his company’s stock, or $25 million worth, on Feb. 1, at prices between $455 and $461. That’s some stock sale. 

The next day, shares of the cloud-based software company topped out near $495. They fell as much as 18% by mid-March, bottoming around $405. The stock then rebounded off its lows and ended the first quarter of 2023 up about 20%, although shares still sit 6% below their February high. 

The company said McDermott needed the cash to buy property and that he remained very bullish on NOW stock.

A ServiceNow spokesperson told MarketWatch: “ServiceNow stock is the majority of Bill’s compensation, and this is his first stock sale in more than two years. Bill retains a large equity stake in the company; in fact, as his equity awards continue to vest over the next 12 months, he will more than replenish the amount he just sold.”

In 2021, McDermott received total compensation of $165.8 million. Of this, $139 million was for option awards that vest only after achieving performance targets over five years. Yet, according to As You Sow, McDermott was the sixth most overpaid CEO in 2021.