Former President Trump nets extra $1.8 billion of stock in his media company
Former President Donald Trump has netted another $1.8 billion worth of stock in his newly public company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), whose main asset is the social media platform Truth Social.
The company awarded the Republican presidential candidate an "earnout" bonus of 36 million additional shares for the stock staying above $17.50 a share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing. An "earnout" bonus is triggered when stocks stay above a certain level.
Trump’s new shares increased his stake in the company to nearly 65% from 57.6% in March. It now means Trump controls 114.75 million shares of the company, which trades under his initials "DJT."
Trump's new fortune comes after a March statement from the Biden-Harris campaign dubbed Trump, "Broke Don," as the former president dealt with dueling New York court cases and a nine-figure bond.
TRUMP'S TRUTH SOCIAL LOST $58 MILLION IN 2023, AND THE STOCK IS TAKING A HIT
DJT stock has surged over 50% to $49.93 in the past five sessions but is still down about 25% from its closing peak on March 27.
The bump in stock brings Trump's total net worth to about $8.33 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which says the bulk of his fortune is tied up in the company.
TRUMP MEDIA SHARES SURGE IN MARKET DEBUT
Trump will not be able to cash out the earnout bonus since the lockup period restricts him and other Trump Media executives from selling their shares for another five months, according to CBS.
TMTG reported it brought in $4.1 million in revenue in 2023 but had an operating loss of more than $58 million.
The former president's social media company went public in March through a merger with the use of a special purpose acquisition company, Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC). Retail buyers fueled the stock's surge in its March 26 debut, where it climbed to a market value of around $8 billion.
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The news of Trump’s earnout bonus comes just two weeks after TMTG announced that Truth Social is planning to soon roll out a live-streaming platform. The livestream channel is set to expand outside Truth Social into its own stand-alone app, then eventually to home TV.
The unnamed livestream network is being billed similarly to other TMTG ventures, aiming to operate outside the control of Big Tech companies.
The Truth Social app is Trump's proprietary social media platform, which he has used since 2022. The former president has used it as an alternative to his Twitter and Facebook accounts, from which he was banned in 2021 following the Jan. 6 Capitol protests.
Fox News’ Timothy Nerozzi and Reuters contributed to this report.