Bernie Sanders Doesn't Own Individual Stocks But His Mutual Fund Holdings Include Stakes In Companies He's Criticized, Including Tesla

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has made waves over the years for targeting the ultra-wealthy, with some of the billionaires accumulating their wealth through stock investments.

While many members of Congress have owned stocks that are publicly disclosed, Sanders has famously avoided this investment vehicle. A filing showed which mutual funds Sanders owns, which pointed to some companies he has financial interests in.

What Happened: Sanders is among the members of Congress who are seeking to ban lawmakers from the buying and selling of stocks and options.

While he doesn’t own individual stocks, a financial disclosure showed Sanders and his wife own stakes in several mutual funds as part of retirement accounts.

Among the holdings are the:

CREF Growth Account R1 (QCGRRX): $15,000 to $50,000

CREF Global Equities (QCGLRX): $15,000 to $50,000

TIAA CREF Real Estate Securities (TIREX): $15,000 to $50,000

TIAA CREF Social Choice (TISCX): $15,000 to $50,000

VALIC Socially Responsible (VSRDX): $50,000 to $100,000

Looking at the holdings of the mutual funds listed above, many have positions in large technology stocks among their top 10 holdings.

The top 10 holdings in CREF Growth Account are Microsoft Corp MSFT, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Apple Inc AAPL, Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL, Tesla Inc TSLA, PayPal Holdings PYPL, Visa Inc V, Mastercard Inc MA, Costco Wholesale Corp COST and Salesforce Inc CRM.

The top 10 holdings in the CREF Global Equities are Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia Corp NVDA, Meta Platforms META, Amazon, ExxonMobil Corp XOM, Taiwan Semiconductor TSM, UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH, Procter & Gamble Co PG and Alphabet.

The TIAA CREF Real Estate Securities fund holds stakes in REITS with the top holdings Prologics Inc PLD, American Tower Corp AMT, Simon Property Group Inc SPG, Equinix Inc EQIX and Digital Realty Trust Inc DLR.

The top 10 holdings in TIAA CREF Social Choice are Microsoft, Nvidia, Procter & Gamble, Tesla, Eli Lilly Co LLY, Mastercard, Home Depot Inc HD, Merck & Co Inc MRK, PepsiCo, Inc. PEP, and Coca-Cola Co KO.

The top 10 holdings in the VALIC Socially Responsible Fund, which is the largest position from Sanders, are Microsoft, S&P 500 Futures, Nvidia, Visa, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, Chevron Corporation CVX, Home Depot, Broadcom Inc AVGO and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc TMO.

Related Link: 10 Best Stock Traders In Congress In 2022

Why It’s Important: Past tweets from Sanders show that he has been critical of several of the companies that are top holdings in mutual funds he owns.

A recent tweet criticized Amazon, one of the larger holdings in several of the mutual funds Sanders has as investments.

“On #PrimeDay, let’s not forget: Amazon is the third wealthiest company in America owned by the second wealthiest man in America. It should be the safest place to work, not one of the most dangerous,” Sanders tweeted, encouraging workers to share their stories.

Another tweet took on Microsoft over its attempted merger with Activision Blizzard ATVI, which has faced regulatory hurdles.

“I applaud the FTC for moving to block this merger. In sector after sector, a handful of giant corporations control what is produced and how much Americans pay for their products. We must stop this dangerous concentration of ownership. This is a step in the right direction.”

Sanders also criticized the CHIPS Act, which was seen to benefit semiconductor stocks such as Nvidia and caused problems for Nancy Pelosi, who owned a position and supported the bill.

“I’ll be on the floor of the Senate to once again talk about legislation that hands a $76 billion blank check to the microchip industry. Yes. We need to rebuild the microchip industry, but not in a way that just benefits profitable corporations.”

Tesla appears in several of the mutual funds, which comes as the senator had publicly criticized company CEO Elon Musk several times.

Sanders argued earlier this year that all income over $999 million should be confiscated.

“I think people can make it on $999 million. I think that they can survive just fine,” Sanders told Chris Wallace during an appearance on “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?”

Sanders introduced legislation in 2021 and 2023 that would levy additional taxes on the trading of stocks.

The Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act of 2023 would seek to have “the wealthy pay their fair share to the American people.”

“Since the 2008 recession, 45% of all new income has gone to the top one percent who disproportionately hold their wealth in stocks, bonds, and derivatives on Wall Street,” a press release read.

The act would put a transaction tax of 0.5% on the trading of stocks, 0.1% tax on bonds and 0.005% on derivatives. Estimates say the act would raise $220 billion per year, or more than $2 trillion in 10 years.

“Let us never forget: Back in 2008, middle-class taxpayers bailed out Wall Street speculators whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes, life savings, and ability to send their kids to college,” Sanders said.

Sanders noted that adding the tax could help rebuild the middle class.

A member of Congress since 1991, serving the state of Vermont in the House and Senate, Sanders has been very outspoken over large company profits and also against stock traders.

Financial disclosures have shown that Sanders doesn’t have a conflict of interest in buying and selling stocks while in Congress. His filings show some mutual funds owned, but based on his tweets, Sanders has no problem calling out the companies he owns stakes in.

Read Next: Bernie Sanders Disagrees With Biden On Many Issues 

Photo: Shutterstock