Lilly Endowment Has Sold $112 Billion in Eli Lilly Stock — And Still Holds 92 Million Shares

Lilly Endowment Inc has now sold $111.8 billion in Eli Lilly (LLY) stock across 10,747 Form 4 transactions — making it the single largest insider seller on record in our database. In November and December 2025 alone, the foundation unloaded over 1 million shares, generating roughly $900 million in proceeds at prices near $1,050-$1,100 per share.

Despite these massive sales, Lilly Endowment still holds approximately 92.2 million LLY shares, worth roughly $100 billion at current prices. The foundation is not going anywhere.

November-December 2025: a selling sprint

Between November 12 and December 29, 2025, Lilly Endowment sold on 14 trading days. The heaviest action concentrated in a two-week window from November 12-25, when the foundation moved hundreds of thousands of shares daily.

November 25 was the single largest day: 162,693 shares at an average of ~$1,097, generating approximately $178.4 million. The entire November 12-25 selling window totaled roughly 1.07 million shares and an estimated $927 million.

Why this is not a bearish signal

Lilly Endowment is not a corporate insider with discretionary trading authority. It is the largest private charitable foundation in the United States by assets, founded in 1937 by the Lilly family. The endowment’s mandate requires it to periodically sell LLY stock to fund grants across education, community development, and religion — primarily in Indiana.

These sales are mechanical distributions, not sentiment signals. The endowment has been selling LLY shares for decades. Its 10%+ ownership triggers Form 4 filing requirements, which is why every sale appears in the insider trading feed.

• Transaction code: S (open-market sale) — consistent across all entries.
• No buys on record: $0 in purchases, ever. The position only shrinks over time.
• Remaining position: 92.2 million shares — still among the largest single holders.

Career scale in context

At $111.8 billion in career sales, Lilly Endowment’s cumulative selling dwarfs every other insider in the market. For perspective:

• Sergey Brin (Google): ~$25.3 billion in career sales
• Mark Zuckerberg (Meta): ~$20.5 billion
• Marc Benioff (Salesforce): ~$11.4 billion
• Lilly Endowment: $111.8 billion — 4.4x the next-largest insider

The endowment’s remaining 92.2 million shares at ~$1,085 are worth approximately $100 billion, which is itself larger than the entire market cap of most S&P 500 companies.

What to watch

• Whether the selling cadence accelerates in Q1 2026 — December’s volumes dropped sharply, suggesting the endowment may have met its near-term distribution target.
• LLY price sensitivity to endowment selling windows — the stock held above $1,000 throughout the November selling sprint.
• Annual grant announcements from Lilly Endowment, which reveal how the sale proceeds are being deployed.
• Any changes to the endowment’s 10%+ ownership status, which would eliminate Form 4 filing requirements.