Donald Trump has created an empire with his company, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT). Starting today, with the U.S. presidential election just weeks away, the former president can decide to whether to tap into his portion of the proceeds.
Trump formed the company in 2021, shortly after being voted out of the White House, as a means of getting his message out on his Truth Social platform after he was banned on X (then Twitter) and other social media outlets.
Trump used Truth Social as his personal sounding board to make false claims about the rigged 2020 election and to rail against rival President Joe Biden. But few foresaw the then-downtrodden Trump using the platform to stay relevant in politics -- and pad his pockets.
"This is a company whose value is so utterly tied up in one person," Baylor University finance professor Michael Stegemoller told CNN. "It's pretty strange. Not even with Apple and Steve Jobs did we see something like this."
Trump Media was valued at more than $6 billion before going public in March, when shares tumbled. However, with Trump serving as the company's largest shareholder, he was legally forbidden from selling his stock and cashing in on it due to a lockup clause -- until today.
Trump Media shares closed Wednesday at 15.62, near an all-time low for the company. Shares quickly sank to 14.81 shortly after Thursday's open. Trump owns approximately 57% of the company, which had a market cap of over $3.1 billion as of Wednesday's close, giving Trump roughly $1.8 billion in stock.
Assuming the stock price remains above $12 at the end of Thursday's trading, Trump would be free from the lock-up close requiring him to hold onto his shares and could legally sell his stock, which is worth nearly $2 billion at the current price. The big question is whether Trump will sell or stay.
"People think that I'm leaving. That's why they're down," Trump told reporters last week as the company's stock started to fall due to skeptical stockholders. "because it's different if I leave. But I'm not leaving."
The public will know within a matter of days if Trump flip-flops on the issue. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires shareholders with more than a 10% stake in a company to disclose any sales of their shares. Such a move would likely trigger a sell-off that could cost Trump even more in the long run.
