WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump has secured an additional $1.6 billion worth of stock in Trump Media, according to a regulatory filing this week.
Trump received an additional 36 million shares of the company that owns his social media platform, Truth Social, based on the company’s stock reaching certain price benchmarks. This brings his total ownership to more than 114 million shares, worth about $5.2 billion based on Wednesday’s closing price.
For now, the value of these stocks is considered “paper wealth.” President Trump is prohibited from selling any stock for six months after Trump Media went public without obtaining a waiver from the company’s board of directors.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, currently owns nearly two-thirds of the company’s outstanding shares.
Trump Media & Technology Group stock has soared over the past few weeks, closing at $49.93 on Tuesday. Trump only needed the stock to exceed $17.50 per share for 20 consecutive days to secure new shares.
Shares fell 9.6% on Wednesday, closing at $45.13.
Trump Media gained its position on the Nasdaq market after merging with a company called Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a special acquisition purpose company (SPAC). This type of merger provides a faster and easier route for young companies to go public.
On March 26, the first day of trading after Trump Media completed its merger with Digital World Acquisition, the newly combined company’s stock price reached nearly $80 per share in intraday trading, then traded at $57.99 per share. The transaction closed in dollars.
Less than a week after its splashy stock market debut, Trump Media revealed it lost nearly $58.2 million last year, with its stock price down more than 21%. The 2023 loss was a significant decrease compared to the $50.5 million profit the company reported in 2022, according to regulatory filings.
In the weeks that followed, the company’s stock price fell to around $22 apiece, but rebounded in mid-April.
Truth Social was launched in February 2022, one year after President Trump was banned from major social platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) in the wake of the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He then rejoined both teams, but stuck with Truth Social.
