New Jersey Senator Cory Booker made history on March 31, 2025, by delivering the longest speech in the U.S. Senate, a marathon session lasting 25 hours and 5 minutes.
While Booker’s speech protested Donald Trump’s second presidency, a look back at his financial decisions over a decade ago has revealed a massive missed opportunity for the lawmaker.
That opportunity stems from his decision to sell all of his Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock shortly after joining Congress in October 2013.
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Filings indicate that Booker sold all his Apple shares on August 8, 2014, a transaction reported on September 7, 2014.
The Congress trade, valued between $1,001 and $15,000, was initiated when Apple stock traded at around $23 per share. Since then, AAPL has surged by 842.33%.
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Booker’s missed opportunity
To put this in perspective, if Booker had held onto his shares, assuming the maximum sale value of $15,000, his investment would be worth approximately $141,350 today, a profit of about $126,300.
Even at the lower end of the transaction range, a $1,001 investment would have grown to around $9,432.
Booker’s Apple sale coincided with his full divestment from other stock holdings. While his exact motivations aren’t public, he may have sought to simplify his finances and avoid conflicts of interest as a newly elected senator.
Notably, holding individual stocks, especially in a technology giant such as Apple, could have raised concerns about impartiality.
Selling his shares may have aligned with ethical standards, allowing him to focus on his legislative duties. Indeed, lawmakers currently involved in stock trading have been scrutinized for allegedly using insider trading information to inform their trades.
In 2014, Apple was still recovering from volatility following Steve Jobs’ 2011 passing. While on a growth trajectory, some investors remained cautious amid rising smartphone competition.
Since then, Apple has cemented itself as the world’s most valuable company, with a market cap of $3.352 trillion. This success is driven by iPhones, an expanding services ecosystem, and Apple’s dominance in wearables with products such as the Apple Watch.
Featured image via Shutterstock
