The Washington Post (AP): A regulatory filing this week indicates that former President Donald Trump has acquired an additional $1.8 billion worth of shares in Trump Media.
The company that owns Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, granted him an additional 36 million shares in exchange for the company’s stock surpassing specific price benchmarks. This brings his total ownership to over 114 million shares, which are valued at $5.7 billion as of Wednesday morning’s stock price.
At this time, the worth of those shares is regarded as “paper wealth.” Without a waiver from the company’s board, Trump is prohibited from selling any shares for six months following the initial public offering of Trump Media.
Presently, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Trump, possesses an almost two-thirds stake in the organization’s total outstanding shares.
As of Tuesday’s close at $49.93, Trump Media & Technology Group shares have surged in value over the past few weeks. To secure the new shares, Trump required the stock to remain above $17.50 per share for a continuous span of 20 trading days.
Trump Media obtained its Nasdaq listing subsequent to its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, which stands for special purpose acquisition company. These mergers provide accelerated and simplified pathways for emerging companies to list their shares on the public market.
On March 26, the first trading day following the completion of the merger between Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition, each share of the newly merged company peaked at approximately $80 in intraday trading prior to concluding at $57.99.
In less than a week following its impressive initial public offering on the stock market, Trump Media revealed a loss of approximately $58.2 million from the previous year, which precipitated a decline of over 21% in its stock. Based on a regulatory filing, the company’s 2023 losses were a significant decrease in comparison to the $50.5 million profit it disclosed in 2022.
The shares of the company declined to approximately $22 per share in the weeks that followed, prior to recovering in mid-April.
Truth Social was introduced in February 2022, marking a year since the suspension imposed on Trump from prominent social media platforms such as Facebook and X (previously Twitter) in response to the January 6 uprising at the United States Capitol. Since being readmitted to both, he has remained a member of Truth Social.
Trump Media shares decreased 6.5% in late morning trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.68.
