Senior executives at Coupang sold troves of company stock in mid-November — days before the company formally disclosed a massive data breach — timing that has sparked investor concern despite the trades being officially preplanned.
According to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Anand sold 75,350 shares on Nov. 10 at $29.02 apiece, totaling about $2.2 million. Pranam Kolari, then the vice president of engineering responsible for search and recommendation, reported selling 27,388 shares on Nov. 17 for roughly $772,000.
Coupang has stated the sales were carried out under Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, which allow executives to schedule stock transactions in advance to avoid insider-trading violations. Anand’s filing said his plan was set in December 2024 to meet tax obligations, while Kolari had submitted a resignation notice a month earlier, suggesting his sale may also have been arranged ahead of time.
However, the proximity of the sales to the cybersecurity incident has prompted questions about what company insiders knew — and when.
Coupang said on Nov. 29 that it became aware of the breach on Nov. 18 and notified authorities the next day. Unauthorized access occurred on Nov. 6, but it remains unclear at what point internal teams recognized the scale or seriousness of the incident.
Meanwhile, Coupang has not yet filed a cybersecurity incident disclosure with the SEC. Under new rules, listed companies must publicly report a material breach within four business days of concluding that it could influence investor decisions.
The breach exposed personal information from over 30 million customers, including names, contact details and delivery addresses. Coupang maintains that financial data was not compromised.
silverstar@heraldcorp.com
