Gottheimer, a former Microsoft executive who sits on the House Financial Services subcommittee overseeing AI in finance and co-chairs a commission developing Democrats' broader AI agenda, disclosed an Oct. 12 purchase of between $1,001 and $15,000 of Benchmark Electronics stock. His jointly owned Morgan Stanley account also bought up to $15,000 worth of Applied Materials shares on Oct. 26, following three earlier purchases of Advanced Micro Devices.
There is no evidence of wrongdoing, but the trades put Gottheimer's investments in the spotlight as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress in January, gaining new power to regulate and investigate the AI industry. The purchases also contrast with Gottheimer's longstanding support for restricting congressional stock trading. In July, he was among just 13 Democrats who voted for the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would prohibit lawmakers and their families from purchasing most individual stocks. The bill passed the House but has not become law.
Gottheimer's spokesman, Haraden Bottomley, said the congressman turned over control of his investments to a third party with "full investment discretion" before taking office in 2017. "Gottheimer is also awaiting approval from Congress of a blind trust. In the meantime, he has taken the extra step of setting up an independent trust," Bottomley said.
The AI purchases represent a small slice of Gottheimer's portfolio. The five trades totaled between $5,005 and $75,000, compared with $15.1 million to $59 million in disclosed household assets, including up to $44.5 million in stocks. His household has reported more than 1,100 securities transactions over three years, according to Follow the Filings. Gottheimer reports household assets jointly with his wife, Marla Tusk, who is general counsel at a political consulting firm.
Advanced Micro Devices competes with Nvidia in AI chips, Applied Materials supplies semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and Benchmark Electronics generated 30% of its third-quarter revenue from semiconductor equipment. The purchases came shortly before a sharp selloff in AI stocks; AMD dropped roughly 17% on Thursday, and Benchmark closed roughly 25% below its closing price on Gottheimer's purchase date before recovering somewhat Friday.