Amid concerns that the president-elect’s holdings are a conflict of interest.
Amid concerns that the president-elect’s holdings are a conflict of interest.
Donald Trump has ditched his stakes in Apple, Google, J.P. Morgan Chase, Nike, and Microsoft, a spokesperson for the president-elect said Tuesday.
The investment moves, which included selling shares of not only those companies, but all of his public traded shares, appear to be part of the president-elect’s effort to remove some of the many conflicts of interest Trump will have to tackle as president.
Trump transition spokesperson Jason Miller told reporters that the real estate mogul made the stock sales in June. The disclosure came on a call with reporters after one asked about Trump’s stake in Boeing—a company that Trump criticized on Twitter Tuesday.
Critics have argued that Trump’s stock holdings could be a conflict of interest for the president-elect after he steps in to the White House on Jan. 20. The president-elect held an interest in several financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, as well as energy companies such as Halliburton and ExxonMobil. Those holdings have worried onlookers, who say that it could skew the president-elect’s stance of Wall Street regulation and climate change. Trump had already gotten criticism for owning a stake in Energy Transfer Partners, the company trying to develop the Dakota Access Pipeline.
It’s unclear when exactly Trump sold out of those holdings, though the S&P 500 was up roughly 2% at the beginning of June, before falling following the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union on June 24.
Granted, Trump had a relatively small fraction of his overall wealth in the stock market, according to May filings with the Federal Election Commission. Roughly $40 million of his estimated $4 billion net worth was invested in the stock market, many of which were large-cap, value stocks, which generally do better than others when the market drops. But it also means that he hasn’t benefitted from the so-called Trump Bump. The stock market is up over 3% since Trump was elected president.
The bulk of Trump’s wealth is still tied up in his real estate development company, which will continue to create conflicts for the president-elect, and be an issue for critics.
Here were Trump’s 14 biggest stock holdings, according to the May filing, including shares of companies that Trump criticized on the campaign trail. (Campaign finance disclosure laws only require candidates give a range of value for their investments.)
14. Alphabet: $100,000 to $200,000
13. Caterpillar: $100,000 to $200,000
12. Phillips 66: $100,000 to $200,000
11. Celgene: $100,000 to $250,000
10. Gilead Sciences: $100,000 to $250,000
9. Visa: $100,000 to $251,000
8. General Electric: $100,000 to $250,000
7. Johnson and Johnson: $100,000 to $250,000
6. Nike: $100,000 to $250,000
5. McKesson: $100,000 to $250,000
4. J.P. Morgan Chase: $100,000 to $251,000
3. PepsiCo: $150,000 to $350,000
2. Microsoft: $300,000 to $600,000
1. Apple: $600,000 to $1.251 million
Trump is also expected to discuss his business holdings, as well as plans for the Trump Organization, at a Dec. 15 news conference. Trump has said he plans to turn over operations of his company to his adult children, though he has not given details on that transition.
