This week, three BlackBerry executives sold a total of $1.7 million of the company’s stock in the early days of its dramatic increase in the share price. BlackBerry and other highly shorted stocks have soared over the past few days as traders organizing on social media platforms like Reddit took on the hedge funds making bets against them, seeking to disrupt the system and effectively take money back from the billionaires controlling the stock market. The stock sales represent the first example of company executives cashing out on the social-media led frenzy.
Among the executives who sold their earnings is the Chief Financial Officer, Steve Rai, who sold almost 33,000 shares in a trade valued at $428,731. BlackBerry shares climbed as high as $28.77 on Wednesday and ended trading on Thursday at $14.65, still double what the stock was trading at just a week earlier. The company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Wilson, also sold his 78,500 shares for $991,455 alongside Billy Ho, division leader, who sold $259,000 worth of shares.
Read More: BlackBerry execs sold shares as Reddit-driven rally started