Former President Donald Trump has received an additional $1.8 billion in stock from his newly public company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which owns the social media platform Truth Social.
Truth Social is a social media app owned by Trump. It has been used as an alternative to platforms like Twitter and Facebook since 2022.
Trump turned to this platform after being banned from Twitter and Facebook in 2021 following the Capitol protests on January 6th.
The company granted Trump an “earnout” bonus of 36 million shares, contingent upon the stock maintaining a value above $17.50 per share for a specified period.
In March, Trump’s social media company became publicly traded by merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special type of company used for mergers.
On its first day of trading, the Donald Trump Stock DJT stock‘s value soared to approximately $8 billion, primarily due to individual retail investors buying shares.
Just two weeks after TMTG announced plans for Truth Social’s live-streaming platform, news broke of Trump receiving an extra $1.8 billion in stock.
This platform aims to expand beyond Truth Social into its own app and potentially onto home TV.
The new livestream network, still unnamed, is designed to operate independently of major tech companies, much like other TMTG ventures.
Trump’s ownership stake in the company has risen to nearly 65% from 57.6% in March, giving him control over 114.75 million shares traded under his initials “DJT.”
This increase in wealth follows a March statement by the Biden-Harris campaign referring to Trump as “Broke Don” amid legal battles and a nine-figure bond.
The stock of DJT, Donald Trump’s media company, has increased significantly by over 50% in the last five trading sessions.
However, it’s important to note that despite this recent surge, the stock is still down approximately 25% from its highest closing value on March 27th.
This surge in DJT stock has resulted in an additional $1.8 billion being added to Trump’s total net worth.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Trump’s overall net worth now stands at about $8.33 billion.
According to CBS, Trump has earned an extra $1.8 billion in stock, but he couldn’t immediately cash out because of a lockup period.
This rule prevents him and other Trump Media executives from selling their shares for another five months.
Trump has been granted additional stock in his media company, which means he now owns around 65% of the company.
However, the company is not performing well financially, as it recorded only $4.1 million in revenue last year and is operating at a loss.
According to Nunes, a spokesperson for Trump Media said that the company has approximately 600,000 retail investors.
These investors, who believe in Trump’s vision, expressed their excitement about Trump’s increased ownership stake in Truth Social.
Some investors even believe that Trump’s larger ownership could discourage short-sellers, who bet on a stock’s decline in value.
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