Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group fell to their lowest level ever at the open Friday, the first day of trading that its largest shareholder, former President Donald Trump, is free to sell his stake in the company behind the Truth Social platform.
Shares of Trump Media, commonly known as TMTG, fell nearly 7 percent to $13.73, putting the company’s value at less than $3 billion. Trump owns more than half of it.
Trump and other company insiders have been unable to profit from the highly volatile stock because of standard lockup agreements that prevent large shareholders from selling stakes for a set period after a company goes public. TMTG began trading publicly in March.
According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Trump owns nearly 115 million shares of the company. Based on TMTG’s stock price as of Friday morning, Trump’s holdings are worth, at least on paper, about $1.6 billion. It’s generally not in the best interest of large shareholders to try to sell large chunks of their stock, as doing so could trigger a broader selloff.
Since its IPO, Trump Media’s stock has fluctuated wildly, often based on news related to Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.
A week ago, the company’s shares jumped nearly 12% after Trump said he wouldn’t sell shares once the lockdown was lifted. The stock fell more than 10% after the debate earlier this month between Trump and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris. In mid-July, the stock soared more than 31% on the first day of trading after the first assassination attempt on Trump.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is now worth much less than it was just a few months ago. When the company debuted on the Nasdaq in March, shares peaked at $79.38.
Truth Social was created after Trump Media was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Based in Sarasota, Florida, Trump Media has been losing money and struggling to generate revenue. It lost nearly $58.2 million last year while generating just $4.1 million in revenue, according to regulatory filings.
