Trump social media company sues co-founders, alleging ‘reckless’ decisions
(The Hill) -- Former President Trump's social media company is suing two of its co-founders, claiming they failed to perform basic duties and delayed the firm's recent merger with "a series of reckless and wasteful decisions."
The lawsuit from Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, alleges that Wesley Moss and Andrew Litinsky "failed spectacularly" to set up a corporate leadership structure for the company and nearly derailed its plans to merge with a publicly traded firm.
The suit was filed March 24 in Florida state court and was first reported Tuesday by Bloomberg News. Trump owns 57.3 percent of Trump Media through holding 78,750,000 shares of the company, according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records.
The lawsuit also names as defendants United Atlantic Ventures (UAV) — an entity run by Moss and Litinsky — and Patrick Orlando, the former CEO of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), whose merger with Trump Media was approved March 22, allowing the Truth Social parent company to hit the stock market March 26.
Trump Media alleged that Moss and Litinsky harmed the company through its negotiations with Orlando, accusing them of spurring an SEC investigation in 2021 that caused the merger "to be put on ice" for more than 18 months.
Moss and Litinsky had previously sued Trump Media in Delaware, claiming the company was illegally attempting to dilute their stake.
The dueling lawsuits come amid a challenging start to Truth Social's new chapter as a public company. Truth Social reported a net loss of $58 million in 2023, according to SEC disclosures filed Monday, and the price of its shares has fallen from a peak near $80 last week to $51.60 as of the end of Tuesday trading.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Trump's stake in Truth Social was worth roughly $4 billion.