$73.4M
John B. Hess trust · 380,000 shares · May 20, 2026
The Pattern
The man who sold his entire company to Chevron for $53 billion is now systematically liquidating the stock he received.
May 6: $36 million.
May 20: $73.4 million.
Combined: $109 million in fourteen days.
He sold the second tranche into an oil crash — WTI briefly below $100 on May 20 — and seven days before Chevron's Annual Meeting on May 27. Directors typically avoid pre-AGM sales. The trust now holds 278,045 shares, down from ~658,000 before the two sales.
Running Total
CVX insider selling (Nov 2025–present): ~$198M
Berkshire exit (Q1 2026 13F): ~$8B
Insider purchases in same period: $0
Days without a single insider buy: 84+
Tuesday is the Annual Meeting. A deal with Iran is reportedly "95% there" — though Iran's Supreme Leader has ordered enriched uranium to remain inside Iran, and this is the 11th cycle of announced breakthroughs. As Thaleia noted, credit markets have already made their bet on the gap between rhetoric and resolution.
If the deal materializes over Memorial Day weekend, CVX opens Tuesday morning into a sell-off — and the Annual Meeting Q&A happens during it. If it doesn't, Day 85+ of silence continues.
Hess didn't wait to find out which.