UPDATED: Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the operator of the Truth Social social network positioned as a “safe harbor for free expression amid increasingly harsh censorship by Big Tech corporations,” closed down 18.35% at the end of regular trading Monday. That came after TMTG disclosed that it was issuing up to 21.49 million new shares of common stock, which would dilute the value of existing shareholders.
The continued sell-off of TMTG stock comes after the company as of April 12 had lost about half of its value since it began trading March 26 following its merger with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC).
Trump Media had full-year 2023 revenue of $4.13 million, an operating loss of $15.97 million and a net loss of $58.19 million, according to an 8-K filing April 1 with the SEC.
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Under the SPAC deal that made TMTG a public company, Trump held 78.75 million shares in the company. As of Monday’s closing price of $26.61/share, those were worth about $2.1 billion, down approximately 60% from $5.2 billion at TMTG’s peak closing price of $66.22/share on March 27.
The latest decline in TMTG’s share price came as Trump was in a Manhattan courtroom Monday to begin jury selection for his criminal trial on hush-money payment charges.
“President Donald J. Trump is the subject of numerous legal proceedings. An adverse outcome in one or more of the ongoing legal proceedings could negatively impact TMTG,” TMTG said in the S-1 filing Monday, reiterating risk factors it has outlined previously. The company’s license agreement does not require Trump to use Truth Social “in certain circumstances,” including in connection with posts that he deems “in his sole discretion” to be “politically related,” according to the filing.
According to TMTG’s press release on the filing, “As part of the Registration Statement, all securities being registered are either held by or underlie securities held by existing security holders of TMTG. TMTG will not receive any proceeds from the resale of securities by the selling security holders pursuant to this Registration Statement and, except in connection with any possible future exercise for cash of any outstanding warrants, TMTG will not receive any proceeds from the sale of any securities registered on the Registration Statement.” The company’s statement continued, “The listing of an individual as a ‘selling securityholder’ in the Registration Statement does not mean such individual or entity will sell their shares or is planning to sell their shares.” TMTG’s directors and officers, as well as Trump and certain other securityholders, remain subject to a six-month lockup period during which they are restricted from selling any shares.
TMTG says its mission is “to end Big Tech’s assault on free speech by opening up the Internet and giving people their voices back. TMTG operates Truth Social, a social media platform established as a safe harbor for free expression amid increasingly harsh censorship by Big Tech corporations.” Shares of the company began trading March 26 on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “DJT.”
Trump formed TMTG in 2021. That was after the former president had been kicked off Twitter (now called X), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other internet platforms, which said he had violated prohibitions against inciting violence in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which aimed to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump’s accounts have been reinstated by X, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, YouTube and others, but he continues to use Truth Social as his preferred social media platform. Truth Social launched in early 2022; TMTG has not disclosed how many people use the service.
