According to recent regulatory filings, former President Donald Trump was awarded another 36 million Trump Media & Technology Group shares worth approximately $1.6 billion. The company owns the former president’s social media platform, Truth Social.
After the additional shares, Trump owns over 114 million shares in the publicly traded company. According to the most recent closing price, just under $50 per share, Trump holds roughly $5.5 billion in the Trump Media stock.
While this multi-billion dollar wealth accumulation lies in unrealized gains, and Trump is not permitted to sell any of the stock for six months, the massive windfall is a substantial addition to his net worth amid the expensive legal battles he is actively fighting.
Trump Media stock has exploded nearly 50 percent in value over the past week, where it had endured steep losses after it was initially introduced on the Nasdaq in late March. Reportedly, Trump now owns roughly two-thirds of the company.
“TMTG’s success depends in part on the popularity of its brand and the reputation and popularity of its Chairman, President Donald J. Trump. The value of TMTG’s brand may diminish if the popularity of President Trump were to suffer,”
The American Tribune previously reported on Trump Media’s stock performance, where, at the time, it had just experienced a sharp increase in value of nearly 25 percent, closing around $62 per share. The company’s market value exceeded $8 billion at that share price. However, the market capitalization has since dropped to just over $6.5 billion.
A prior regulatory filing noted Trump’s impact on the stock’s value, which is heavily correlated with the consumer activity on the platform. “Adverse reactions to publicity relating to President Trump, or the loss of his services, could adversely affect TMTG’s revenues, results of operations, and its ability to maintain or generate a consumer base,” according to an SEC filing.
Trump Media was placed on the Nasdaq Composite index after successfully merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). This type of transaction is a typical move for newer companies that quickly want to gain access to equity financing on the stock market.
When the news of the merger first broke, conservative commentator and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, discussed the implications of the merger. At the time, Judge Engoron had recently ruled that Trump was liable for a nearly $464 million penalty in the civil fraud case.
Kirk said, “Shareholders have just voted to make Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, a publicly traded company. This could net Trump a windfall of $4 billion. The President would need to seek a waiver to liquidate his stock before the end of a lockup period in order to use the cash to secure a $450 million bond in the Letitia James, “Get Trump” fraud case to then appeal the decision. Trump has nearly $500 million in cash, but experts claim he needs $1 billion in cash to secure a bond that size. The merger approval means TMTG stock will trade on Nasdaq as “DJT” as early as next week.”
As Trump gets rewarded by the stock market at a time when having the extra assets is coming in helpful, many Americans are wishing they had more assets and the economic prospects they did under Trump, as shown in a recent poll of undecided voters who said they much preferred Trump’s economic policies to Biden’s. Watch them here:
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