When TruthSocial went public, it added billions to the net worth of Donald Trump, at least on paper. Then, as experts had predicted, the share prices started falling — and kept falling.
Since then, the prices have rallied a few times. It’s currently at around $35 per share, after hitting a low of around $23 per share last week. That’s still well below the price of around $70 per share at launch, though.
Because of this, Trump’s net worth fell again, along with the value of stocks he’s not allowed to sell for six months. He has a plan, though, if things go right for him for one more day, and it amounts to gifting himself extra shares. CNN reported:
“Trump Media can issue additional shares to pre-merger shareholders such as the former president if the dollar volume-weighted average price equals or exceeds $12.50 for any 20 trading days within any 30 day trading period beginning on March 25. The full earnout of 40 million shares would be triggered if that price metric equals or exceeds $17.50 over the same timeframe.”
An extra 40 million shares, at $35 apiece, works out to about $1.4 billion, and it happens (on paper) as long as the shares don’t drastically drop by the close of day on Tuesday. Of those, 36 million would belong to Trump, with the rest apportioned to other insiders.
As of Friday at the close of the market, Trump’s shares of the company were worth about $2.9 billion, according to Barron’s.
The stock seemed to rally somewhat after last week’s announcement that Trump Media & Technology Group plans to launch a streaming video platform. The addition of 40 million more shares to the market could change that, though. Bloomberg explained:
“Your simple model could be that there is a stable-ish price for Trump Media as a meme stock with 30 million shares to trade, but the price for a meme stock with 50 million shares to trade, or 200 million, would be proportionally lower.”
There are at least two other significant factors: Trump’s trial and his political campaign. The criminal proceedings could scare investors into dumping shares, or Trump’s fans could decide to pour more of their own hard-earned cash in to show their support.
Either way, Trump Media & Technology Group shares are a risky and unstable investment that those without significant cash they are willing to risk losing should scrupulously avoid.
For clarifications, comments, & typos, email: editor@occupydemocrats.com.
