Oklo Director Sold 50,000 Shares of Nuclear Start-Up Before Selloff

Oklo director Michael Stuart Klein sold 50,000 shares of common stock through two separate transactions on Sept. 22. (Business Wire)

Key Points

• An Oklo director sold $6.8 million in stock on Sept. 22, one day before shares hit a record high and then declined.
• Oklo shares closed at a record $142.65 on Sept. 23, but subsequently fell 22% by the end of the week.
• The nuclear start-up, which went public in May 2024, has seen its stock increase by more than 400% this year.

An Oklo company director sold $6.7 million worth of stock while shares of the nuclear start-up were near all-time highs and before they got pummeled.

Michael Stuart Klein, a 10% owner and independent director of the company, sold 50,000 shares in two separate transactions on Sept. 22, according to a Form 4 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Klein sold 40,000 shares at an average price of $133.40 apiece, then sold an additional 10,000 shares for $135.20 each. Following the transactions, he indirectly owned 150,000 shares through M. Klein Associates, Inc., an investment holding company of which he is the controlling stockholder. The holdings were valued at nearly $16.6 million as of Friday’s close.

Oklo told Barron’s that the company doesn’t comment on insider transactions.

Klein currently serves as a managing partner of M. Klein & Company, a strategic advisory firm he founded in 2012, as well as the CEO of blank-check company Churchill Capital Corp. IX .

Oklo closed at a record on Sept. 22 and again on Sept. 23. Then shares of Oklo and fuel-cell technology company Bloom Energy slumped as investors questioned both companies’ fundamentals. From Oklo’s record close of $142.65 through the end of Friday’s session, shares fell 22%. The stock is still up more than 400% this year.

The day of Klein’s stock sale, Oklo held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first power plant at Idaho National Laboratory. The start-up went public in May 2024 and has steadily attracted attention, including at the federal level.

Oklo was one of the companies selected for a pilot program under the Department of Energy, which aims to have at least three test reactors up and running at national laboratories across the country by July 2026, ahead of Oklo’s own timeline.

Oklo noted in its most recent quarterly filing with the SEC that it “continues to incur significant operating losses.” The company’s ambitious targets have also faced scrutiny. Oklo company says it remains on track to deploy its first Aurora powerhouse by 2027 or 2028, despite currently lacking an operating license.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com