Topline
President-elect Donald Trump said on social media Friday he has “no intention of selling” his shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth Social’s parent company, despite rumors and false statements he claims are circulating, and shares of the company immediately jumped 4%.
Trump said “fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors” that he is seeking to sell his shares of … [+]
Key Facts
Trump said in a post on Truth Social the “fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors and/or statements made by, perhaps, market manipulators or short sellers” alleging he is interested in selling his shares of the company are false—but it is not clear what rumors and false statements Trump is referring to.
“I hereby request that the people who have set off these fake rumors or statements, and who may have done so in the past, be immediately investigated by the appropriate authorities,” Trump said in the post.
Shares of Trump Media, which trades as $DJT, were up almost 10% Friday—and increased about 4% in the hour after Trump’s post—to $30.13 a share, as of 11 a.m. EST.
Trump—who won the presidential election Tuesday against Vice President Kamala Harris—saw a $248 million increase to his net worth Friday morning, bringing the total to about $5.5 billion and making him the 607th wealthiest person in the world.
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Big Number
57%. That’s roughly Trump’s stake in Trump Media, equating to about 114,750,000 shares.
Key Background
Trump Media went public in March after the completion of a reverse merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company, and experts largely considered it a meme stock as its price fluctuated based on things other than the company’s financial performance. The stock has been volatile and shifted with Trump’s campaign and the likelihood of him winning back the White House in recent months. Shares surged after the first assassination attempt on Trump’s life in July and after his debate with President Joe Biden, but fell after he debated Harris in September. Trump was first able to sell his shares in the company in late September after a standard lockup period preventing him and other executives from selling ended. Trump said at the time he would not sell his shares, though—a move that could potentially decrease the company’s share price—saying,“I’m not selling, I love it.”
Crucial Quote
“Truth is an important part of our historic win, and I deeply believe in it,” Trump said in Friday morning’s post.
Tangent
Trump Media reported a net loss of $19 million in its third quarter report earlier this week in large part because of legal fees and its TV streaming efforts. The company also reported a decline in revenue, but the company’s share price was not heavily impacted as the report was released the same day Trump defeated Harris, which surged the stock price.
Surprising Fact
Trump’s post about not selling his stake in Trump Media broke his silence on Truth Social after winning the election. Until Friday’s post, he had no written posts after Tuesday night at 10 p.m. EST encouraged people to vote. He began sharing images of the electoral college map and newspaper front pages Friday morning, but the post about selling shares was the first with text.
