CEO Joseph Y. Bae buys $12.8 million of KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR)

Joseph Y. Bae, chief executive of KKR & Co. Inc., bought 125,000 shares on the open market on February 17, 2026 at an average of $102.19 a share, for a total of $12.8 million. The purchase was reported to the SEC on Form 4 on February 18, 2026.

It raised their holding by 33%, to 509,257 shares.

4 other insiders also bought at least $10,000 of KKR within 30 days, which makes this a cluster buy.

In the 12 months up to this filing, KKR & Co. Inc. insiders reported 3 open-market purchases and 0 sales.

WallStPal Score: 65 out of 100, because of raised their holding by 33%; a large purchase; 4 other insiders also bought; bought by a top executive.

What happened next: after 1 month the stock was down 15.9% (13 points worse than the S&P 500); after 6 months the stock was up 11.6% (2.3 points worse than the S&P 500). Based on weekly prices from the week of the purchase.

Our read

The first open-market purchase by Joseph Y. Bae in our records. Insiders buy for many reasons and can be wrong; one purchase is a reason to look closer, not a reason to buy.

Source: SEC Form 4 filing ↗. This story was written automatically from the filing and weekly price data. Information, not investment advice.

Examples

Big insider purchases have made news before. In January 2016, with bank stocks falling, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon bought 500,000 JPMorgan shares, about $26 million of his own money, and the purchase was widely reported as a sign of confidence.

Explain it like I'm 13

Joseph Y. Bae helps run KKR & Co. Inc.. Spending $12.8 million of their own money on the company's stock is like a coach buying a big stack of tickets to their own team's games: it suggests they think the team will do well. It is not a promise, and insiders can be wrong.

More: all KKR insider trades · Joseph Y. Bae's track record