Key points
- Benchmark and Applied Materials are the newest buys
- The three AMD purchases shown came before the July vote
- Microsoft leads Gottheimer's disclosed trades
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat helping write his party's AI agenda, reported that a joint account bought Benchmark Electronics (BHE) on Oct. 12 and Applied Materials (AMAT) on Oct. 26, our Capitol tracker shows. Each purchase falls in the $1,001 to $15,000 range, his Nov. 5 filing shows.
The timing drew attention because Gottheimer was one of 13 Democrats who voted in July for the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would bar lawmakers and their families from buying most individual stocks. The bill passed the House but hasn't become law, so the purchases don't break it. CNBC, which reported the purchases on Nov. 7, said there's no evidence of wrongdoing, and his spokesman said a third party has run his investments since before he took office in 2017.
These trades are a small part of a long record. Our tracker shows 3,504 disclosed transactions from Jan. 3, 2017, to Oct. 26, 2026. Microsoft (MSFT) leads that record with 215 stock and option transactions, at least 148 of them options, by our count. The record also lists 43 Nvidia transactions and 32 AMD transactions.
What did Gottheimer's account buy?
The reports give dollar ranges, not exact amounts or prices. So the table uses each stock's closing price on the trade date as a rough guide. The changes compare closing prices, not his actual returns, and the reports don't show whether the account still held the shares on Nov. 6.
| Trade date | Stock | Action | Reported amount | Close that day | Nov. 6 close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 23 | Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) | Buy | $1,001 to $15,000 | $305.33 | $449.04 | +47.1% |
| Apr. 27 | AMD | Buy | $1,001 to $15,000 | $334.63 | $449.04 | +34.2% |
| May 5 | AMD | Buy | $1,001 to $15,000 | $355.26 | $449.04 | +26.4% |
| Aug. 6 | Applied Materials | Buy | $1,001 to $15,000 | $527.48 | See Sept. 15 | Not applicable |
| Sept. 15 | Applied Materials | Sell | $1,001 to $15,000 | $421.17 | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Oct. 12 | Benchmark Electronics | Buy | $1,001 to $15,000 | $79.34 | $60.40 | -23.9% |
| Oct. 26 | Applied Materials | Buy | $1,001 to $15,000 | $387.59 | $332.72 | -14.2% |
One detail is easy to miss. The three AMD purchases in the table came before the July 22 vote, according to his May and June reports. So the buys after the vote are the Applied Materials and Benchmark trades.
The August Applied Materials purchase and the September sale came in the same account, but the reports don't say whether the same shares were involved. Percentages are by our calculations.
What were the Microsoft option trades?
A call option gives its holder the right to buy a stock at a set price, called the strike, by a set date. On Aug. 14, Gottheimer's joint Morgan Stanley account reported four Microsoft call trades, his September filing shows.
| Action | Strike | Expiration | Reported amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | $340 | Oct. 16, 2026 | $250,001 to $500,000 |
| Buy | $330 | Oct. 16, 2026 | $500,001 to $1 million |
| Sell | $340 | Dec. 18, 2026 | $250,001 to $500,000 |
| Sell | $335 | Dec. 18, 2026 | $500,001 to $1 million |
Microsoft closed at $495.40 on Aug. 14, far above all of those strikes. The filing doesn't explain the trades, show his whole position, or say whether the sales closed options he already held. Those ranges are trade amounts, not profit or a net investment.
They're also not the largest on his record. Four Microsoft transactions fall in the top reported bracket of $5,000,001 to $25,000,000, our tracker shows: two in November 2021 and two option trades in November 2023. That's a reported bracket, not an exact amount.
Gottheimer is a former Microsoft executive, CNBC noted. Microsoft closed at $529.05 on Oct. 16, above the strikes on the options that expired that day. His reports through Nov. 5 don't show what happened to them.
How much of Gottheimer's money is this?
The stock buys are a tiny share. Each was $15,000 or less, against $15.1 million to $59 million in disclosed household assets, CNBC said.
His spokesman, Haraden Bottomley, said Gottheimer gave a third party "full investment discretion" before taking office. "Gottheimer is also awaiting approval from Congress of a blind trust," Bottomley said, adding that he has set up an independent trust in the meantime. The filings don't say who made each trade decision.
The scrutiny is likely to grow. Democrats take control of Congress in January, and Gottheimer co-chairs a commission on the party's AI agenda and sits on a House Financial Services subcommittee overseeing AI in finance, CNBC said. Our Gottheimer page logs each disclosed trade as it's filed.
