Current:Home > reviewsTrump to receive 36 million additional shares of Truth Social parent company, worth $1.17 billion -StockSource
Trump to receive 36 million additional shares of Truth Social parent company, worth $1.17 billion
View
Date:2025-04-18 08:03:41
Former President Donald Trump has met the requirement to receive up to 36 million additional shares of Trump Media, worth $1.17 billion at Tuesday's close.
The earnout bonus, a potential for a future windfall, if the company meets financial goals, is a provision in the merger agreement with Digital World Acquisition Corp., according to an SEC filing. It states Trump is entitled to the additional shares if the stock price stays above certain thresholds for 20 days out of any 30 trading days.
Trump already owned 60% of the company with 78.75 million shares. Even though the DJT stock price nosedived a few weeks after debuting on the stock market, it has stayed well above the $17.50 per share threshold in its 20 trading days. The lowest it has been since its March 26 debut is $22.84 per share on April 16.
The influx of more than a billion dollars to Trump's wealth comes as he sits trial in Manhattan for 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Donald Trump trial live updates:Latest from gag order arguments, David Pecker testimony
Trump Media stock price
At close on April 23, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp shares held steady at $32.56, down 8.28% from the previous close.
How parent company of Truth Social went public
Trump founded his social media company in 2021 after being booted from other major platforms following the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump Media went public on the Nasdaq on March 26, 2024 through a merger with shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The merger was announced in 2021.
Trump's debut on the stock market was splashy, with Trump Media shares soaring, helped partly by – and to the delight of – his loyal MAGA supporters.
But regulatory filings show the company was operating at a loss in 2023, making approximately $4 million in revenue while losing more than $58 million. Accounting firm BF Borgers CPA PC said in a letter to Trump Media shareholders the operating losses “raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”
Experts have told USA TODAY they expect the stock's price to remain volatile.
Trump's legal cases come with mounting price tag
Trump Media share prices have fallen significantly since it went public, coming down more than 60% by April 15, the first day of his first of four criminal trials.
Trump also was ordered to pay a combined $537 million across two civil cases earlier this year, both of which he is appealing.
At one point, the Trump Media shares were a potential source of funding to make those payments.
But in April, he posted a reduced bond of $175 million fronted by California billionaire Don Hankey to prevent his assets from being seized in a fraud case.
Contributing: Bailey Schulz, Jessica Guynn, Jeanine Santucci; USA TODAY
veryGood! (8869)
Related
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Getting lit for Hip-Hop's 50th birthday
- Seattle Mariners fan surprises Félix Hernández at team's Hall of Fame ceremony
- Recall: 860,000 Sensio pressure cookers recalled because of burn hazard
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Video shows deadly end to Connecticut police chase as officer shoots man in vehicle
- Michigan police detained a Black child who was in the ‘wrong place, wrong time,’ department says
- Los Angeles Dodgers retire Fernando Valenzuela's No. 34 jersey in 'long overdue' ceremony
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- NASCAR at Indianapolis 2023: Start time, TV, streaming, lineup for Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
Ranking
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- Niger’s junta gains upper hand over regional bloc threatening military force, analysts say
- Starting next year, child influencers can sue if earnings aren’t set aside, says new Illinois law
- Some 3,000 miles from Oakland, A's fans' 'Summer of Sell' finds another home
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- What’s behind the tentative US-Iran agreement involving prisoners and frozen funds
- Full-time UPS drivers will earn $170,000 a year, on average, in new contract, CEO says
- Louisiana school district’s superintendent announces retirement
Recommendation
Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
How to watch Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters at Outside Lands festival from San Francisco
Michigan police chief, mayor apologize after arrest video of 12-year-old boy goes viral
Winning Time Los Angeles Lakers Style Guide: 24 Must-Shop Looks
North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
'I'm a Swiftie!' Kevin Costner 'blown away' at Taylor Swift concert with his daughter
Leaders' arrogance and envy doomed the Pac-12
Pilot and passenger presumed dead after aircraft crashes in Alaska's Denali National Park