Royal Caribbean Group (RCL.US) heirs top the Q1 U.S. stock insider sellers list, with the sharp drop in technology stock sales highlighting cautious sentiment.

According to the latest data from Washington Service tracking internal trading behavior, in the first quarter of this year, as the outlook for the technology industry became more cautious, many common internal major sellers have reduced their stock sales. This has made Royall Caribbean Group (RCL.US) heir Arne Alexander's, Inc. Williamson the largest internal seller in Q1. The data shows that in the first quarter, a total of 4,419 insiders sold $16.3 billion in stocks, higher than the 3,867 people who sold $15.5 billion in the same period last year. The top ten sellers combined sold $2.3 billion, lower than the $3.8 billion in the same period last year. Among them, the Williamson family office sold over $500 million in stocks, the first reduction since 2024. Peter Thiel sold $290 million worth of Palantir (PLTR.US) stocks through a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan, ranking second on the list. Executives from CoreWeave (CRWV.US), Broadcom Inc. (AVGO.US), and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) also made it to the top ten. It is worth noting that in the first three months of this year, half of the top ten internal sellers come from companies benefiting from Artificial Intelligence (AI), a proportion lower than in 2025 when nine out of ten top sellers were from technology companies. This shift comes as software stocks are being sold off due to AI disruption concerns and global market turmoil sparked by the outbreak of the Iran conflict. Analysts point out that while internal trading is often influenced by individual financial planning, rather than reflecting directly on the market's assessment, it may still be seen as a signal of companies becoming more cautious. Looking at the data for February alone, the cautious sentiment in the market is even more evident. According to Washington Service data, the ratio of internal trading sellers to buyers for US publicly traded companies in February surged to 4.2, the highest level since July 2024. There were a total of 2,260 internal selling records in that month, compared to only 543 purchase records, with a total of approximately $6.6 billion sold. In the S&P 500 component companies, this gap is even more pronounced. In February, 833 executives sold over $4.9 billion in stocks, while only 74 executives bought, totaling only $2.71 billion. It should be noted that the data for February does not reflect the impact of the outbreak of the Iran conflict on the market. Below are the top ten internal sellers in the first quarter as compiled by Washington Service. The data does not include beneficial owners such as asset management funds. Unless otherwise indicated, the listed companies have not responded to requests for comments. 1. Arne Alexander's, Inc. Williamson Position: Director, Royal Caribbean Group Total shares sold: 1,731,597 shares Total value sold: $549,611,077 Williamson, from a Norwegian shipping family, is the heir to billions of dollars in shares in Royal Caribbean. His father Arne Williamson joined the family shipping business in 1954 and became president in 1961. Royal Caribbean was founded in the late 1960s by three Norwegian shipping companies, with the intention of building cruise ships suitable for warm climates, and headquartered in Miami. Arne Alexander's, Inc. Williamson took over the family's seat on the board of directors in 2003. He also serves as chairman of Awilhelmsen, the family investment company that has expanded into oil, real estate, and other industrial sectors. In February, Awilhelmsen sold nearly $550 million of Royal Caribbean stock through a series of transactions and currently holds over 6% of the company. 2. Peter Thiel Position: Chairman, Palantir Technologies Inc. Total shares sold: 2,000,000 shares Total value sold: $289,707,507 Since Donald Trump's election as president, insiders at Palantir have sold billions of dollars in shares, boosting the stock price of the software company. However, Thiel sold 2 million shares in March through a 10b5-1 plan, the first reduction since 2024, and his first move since relocating to Florida in December last year due to a billionaire tax proposal in California. Despite selling the stock, Thiel still retains the voting control of the company through special founder privilege shares. 3. Henry Samueli Position: Chairman, Broadcom Inc. Total shares sold: 781,967 shares Total value sold: $250,000,302 As one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, California-based chip manufacturer Broadcom Inc. reported record revenue in the first quarter ending February 1st. Chairman and co-founder Samueli sold a $250 million stake held by a limited liability company in March through a 10b5-1 plan, and donated approximately $135 million in stocks. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Samueli owns about 2% of the company, accounting for most of his $32.7 billion wealth. A Broadcom Inc. spokesperson declined to comment. 4. Mat Ishbia Position: CEO, UWM Holdings Corp. (UWMC.US) Total shares sold: 44,018,288 shares Total value sold: $197,457,027 Since June 2025, Ishbia has been continuously selling UWM stocks through SFS Holding Corp. Using a 10b5-1 plan, he has sold over $560 million in the past 10 months. Data shows that Ishbia personally controls 75% of the SFS holdings, with the remaining portion related to his father Jeff and brother Justin. As market expectations for the mortgage provider decreased due to rising interest rates, UWM's stock price fell by 17% in the first quarter. Ishbia's $8.6 billion net worth mainly comes from his UWM holdings, ownership of the Phoenix Suns basketball team, and dividend income from SFS acquired from UWM. 5. Jonathan Fairbanks Position: Chairman, Flowco Holdings Inc. (FLOC.US) Total shares sold: 8,970,000 shares Total value sold: $189,939,750 Fairbanks is the managing partner of Houston-based private equity company Global Energy Capital (GEC). Through a series of mergers, GEC helped establish Flowco, a publicly traded company focused on oil field equipment supply, with Fairbanks serving as chairman. In March, Flowco announced a secondary public offering of shares held by affiliated GEC companies, with trades reported under Fairbanks' name. Demand for this secondary offering was reportedly nearly five times the offering size. 6. Jay Pruh Position: Global VP of Operations, NVIDIA Corporation Total shares sold: 1,000,000 shares Total value sold: $183,002,963 NVIDIA Corporation's stock has risen 1,177% over the past five years, catapulting Pruh into the billionaire club. A veteran of 21 years at the chip manufacturer in Santa Clara, California, Pruh is responsible for sales as the global VP of operations. The sale of 1 million shares is his largest NVIDIA Corporation stock sale to date. An NVIDIA Corporation spokesperson said, "Mr. Pruh's transactions are based on a 10b5-1 plan where the prices, quantities, and dates are pre-set." 7. Brennan McCabe Position: Chief Development Officer, CoreWeave Total shares sold: 2,060,805 shares Total value sold: $173,422,847 After the lock-up period ended following CoreWeave's IPO last year, insiders sold over $1 billion in stock and continued to cash out in the first quarter. McCabe has sold over $685 million in CoreWeave stock since August last year. Documents show that even before the IPO, the executive, who started as a trader in energy and Shenzhen Agricultural Power Group, cashed out $150 million through a tender offer. Most of his $2.6 billion net worth is still locked in his 4% ownership of CoreWeave, which has risen 130% since going public in March last year. 8. Reed Hastings Position: Chairman, Netflix (NFLX.US) Total shares sold: 1,648,360 shares Total value sold: $151,758,137 Despite turbulence in Netflix's stock price earlier in the year, the co-founder continued a steady pace of reducing his holdings in the first quarter. Netflix's stock hit a yearly low in February as investors were dissatisfied with its attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD.US), but after the streaming company abandoned the acquisition, the stock surged 14% in a single day. It is estimated that Hastings typically sells stock monthly and has sold over $2.5 billion in Netflix shares since 2003. This helped him purchase a Utah ski resort, where he is currently spending $40 million on upgrades. The 65-year-old billionaire did not respond to requests for comments and still holds 0.5% of the company's shares and approximately 2 million Netflix stock options, constituting part of his $6.8 billion wealth. (Hastings is also a member of the Bloomberg company's board of directors.) 9. Brian Venturo Position: Chief Strategy Officer, CoreWeave Total shares sold: 1,613,202 shares Total value sold: $138,211,851 Like other co-founders of CoreWeave, Venturo has been unreserved in selling the company's stock since the IPO, having sold over $500 million so far. The Chief Strategy Officer used a 10b5-1 plan for some of the transactions and still holds 6% of the company's shares. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he has a net worth of $3.6 billion. While CoreWeave's stock price has risen since the IPO, it has fallen below its peak in the summer of last year. The company reported a loss in February that exceeded expectations, causing concern in the market about increased capital expenditures, leading to a 19% drop in the stock price. 10. Kevin Stein Position: Director, TransDigm Group Inc. (TDG.US) Total shares sold: 98,000 shares Total value sold: $138,048,502 Stein retired from the aircraft parts manufacturer last September, after serving as CEO for over seven years. During his tenure, the Cleveland-based company faced government scrutiny for product pricing issues and was requested to refund the Pentagon in 2022. Stein joined the company as COO in 2014 and still serves as a director. Most of the stocks sold this time are related to stock options that expire between 2028 and 2030.