Billionaires and executives sold $9 billion in stocks in the first half, but retail investors are still jumping in

Billionaires and executives sold $9 billion in stocks in the first half, but retail investors are still jumping in

Billionaires and corporate executives have sold about $9 billion worth of stocks so far this year, taking advantage of the recent market rally to cash in profits.

The top sellers were reportedly Walmart( 155.35 , 0.70 , 0.45% ) and the Walton family, heirs to Sam’s Club. The family sold $4.39 billion worth of Walmart stock in the first half of the year, reducing their stake as the company’s shares rose 9 percent in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia sold $893 million worth of company stock in the first half. Shares of the home-sharing site are up 59% since the start of the year.

Oracle( 116.515 , 1.64 , 1.42% ) founder Larry Ellison sold off the company’s stock for the first time in two years, cutting $848 million in the first half of the year. Oracle CEO Safra Catz also sold $470 million worth of company stock. The company’s shares are up 37% this year.

Other big sellers included Salesforce( 224.48 , 3.31 , 1.50% ) Marc Benioff, Moderna CEO Stephen Bancel and Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, who each sold Company stock worth approximately $200 million to $300 million.

Meanwhile, insider buying has fallen to about half of last year’s reported level.

As stocks have staged an impressive rally this year, with the S&P 500 up 15% from January levels, big-name investors have dumped their holdings. Much of that sell-off has been centered in the tech sector, with big tech stocks rallying particularly sharply amid the massive excitement around artificial intelligence.

While the S&P 500 officially entered a bull market in early June, some commentators believe the rally is unlikely to last due to tightening monetary policy and other headwinds facing corporate earnings in the second half of the year.

But as far as retail investors are concerned, the rally isn’t over yet. According to data from Wanda Research, the current average daily net inflows of retail investors into the US stock market are about 1.4 billion US dollars, close to the historical record of 1.5 billion US dollars per day in March 2022.