Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her husband Paul, a prolific stock market investor, have displayed an uncanny ability to make rather fortuitously timed and highly profitable moves that add to their considerable wealth, which has prompted scandalous allegations of insider trading for the congresswoman and spurred other investors to copy their moves.

One stock in particular, Tempus AI, has dramatically surged in value in recent weeks after Pelosi disclosed the purchase of 50 call options for potential future purchases well below the stock's current trading price, according to Cryptopolitan.

What that means is that Pelosi can exercise those options at any point before a deadline next January to purchase shares at a locked-in low price and then immediately turn around and sell them at the vastly higher current market value, pocketing a substantial profit in the process.

A lucrative investment for the Pelosis

Investopedia reported on Jan. 21 that Tempus AI stock took off after former Speaker Pelosi disclosed that she'd acquired about a week earlier 50 call options for $20 each that expire next January.

On the day the options were purchased, the stock was valued at slightly less than $32 per share, but following Pelosi's disclosure a week later, the stock closed at more than $47 per share, which would more than double the investment if the options were exercised and subsequently sold.

Yet, driven in large part by investors who follow in the wake of Pelosi's trades, the stock has continued to surge since then, and as of the Nasdaq's close on Monday, Tempus AI stock (TEM) was trading at just shy of $82 per share -- more than quadruple the value of the initial investment.

Unusual Whales, a group that closely tracks the financial moves of Pelosi and other congressional traders, noted in an X post on Jan. 31, "This is actually insane. Nancy Pelosi’s $TEM Tempus AI $20 calls expiring 1/16/2026, are 200% in TEN DAYS!!!!! Ten days! She has made her entire salary three times in nearly a week. Unusual."

Why did Pelosi purchase those call options?

It is unclear what, exactly, prompted Pelosi to purchase the Tempus AI call options on Jan. 14, but Investopedia noted that on the same day that the congresswoman disclosed that acquisition, the medical tech company announced the launch of a new "AI-enabled personal health concierge app" that has been dubbed Olivia.

The program, which reportedly features more autonomy and capabilities than standard AI-powered chatbots and digital assistants, is intended to "empower patients by bringing their health-related data into one central location and leveraging advanced AI to provide actionable insights."

The company further boasted that Olivia can "integrate with Apple Watch and Google Fit to track a user’s day-to-day health, summarize their clinical history, and transcribe doctors’ appointments," and serve as a "proactive partner" to aid the navigation of a patient's healthcare needs.

Pelosi "consistently outperforms the stock market"

Looking beyond just this one particularly lucrative investment, Cryptopolitan reported that former Speaker Pelosi "consistently outperforms the stock market" with what the outlet described as a "well-documented" history of "outrageously well-timed stock trades."

Indeed, in 2024 alone, Pelosi enjoyed a 70.9% return on investments, which far surpassed the year's return of 24.9% gains for the S&P 500, "which has raised questions about how politicians manage to make such profitable bets while holding key positions in government."

To be sure, there are ample suspicious calls for investigation of alleged trading on insider information known only to members of Congress and government officials, or at the very least more transparency of and limitations imposed on transactions by members and their spouses.

That said, there is also the mindset of "if you can't beat them, join them" that has been growing in momentum, and a subscription service is even available from Unusual Whales for investors who want to track and copy Pelosi's portfolio.