As the date looms for Biden to announce his vice presidential pick, contender and former national security advisor Susan Rice decided to sell off some of her Netflix shares, for a total of $305,323.
Rice, who has served on the Netflix board of directors since 2018, reportedly completed an SEC filing late Thursday, according to Deadline. As part of her compensation package, Rice receives 125 stock options a month. She decided to exercise her options at $508.28.
Erin Pelton, Rice's spokesperson, said the move was not politically motivated.
“Ambassador Rice’s sale of a fraction of her Netflix stock has nothing to do with VP speculation,” said Pelton, in a statement. “She filed a stock plan pursuant to SEC regulations over three months ago.”
The former UN ambassador is rumored to be one of two finalists for Biden's running mate, alongside Sen. Kamala Harris (CA), according to an Axios report. Last month Politico mistakenly reported that Harris was selected at Biden's vice president.
Other candidates in the running for the role include Rep. Karen Bass (CA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), Tammy Duckworth (IL), and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Rice has been no stranger to controversy when it comes to her stock holdings.
In 2012 during her failed bid for secretary of state, allegations surfaced that Rice and her wealthy Canadian husband owned nearly $600,000 worth of stock in TransCanada, the company that owned the Keystone.
The company sought to build the Keystone XL pipeline in order to transport tar sands crude 1,700 miles to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast, a move that would have crossed Midwest ecosystems and the largest freshwater aquifer in North America. The project was halted during the Obama administration and was picked back up by the Trump administration, only to be barred from further construction by the Supreme Court this past spring.
Environmentalists criticized Rice then for her holdings back then claiming she was at odds with the liberal pro-environment agenda. Today some progressives make a similar argument with the former national security advisor being considered Biden's running mate, as much of his platform is based around green initiatives.
She has not disclosed whether she still holds stock in TransCanada.
Rice's net worth is anywhere between $14.7 million and $28.5 million, according to a 2016 financial disclosure statement she filed as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser. This statement did not include her two homes, and her husband's inherited wealth, both of which could make the estimate significantly larger.
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