Former President Donald Trump’s net worth skyrocketed to nearly $7.5 billion last week after Trump Media, the parent company for his social media network Truth Social, began publicly trading on the stock market. However, barely one week later, the stock’s price has plummeted after the company publicly revealed just how little money it actually makes.
The company’s stock price rose to $77.27 last Tuesday, but by the end of the following Monday, it dropped to $48.66 — a 37% decrease. The value of Trump’s shares of the company’s stock — of which he owns 58% — dropped from $7.5 billion last Monday to $3.84 billion by the end of Monday — nearly a 48% difference, according to various media reports.
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The stock price took a nosedive in response to Trump Media’s recent filing with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the federal agency that oversees the stock market. In its filing, Trump Media reported a net loss of $58 million in 2023, and just $4 million in revenue that same year. In other words, the company loses far more money than it makes.
“As of December 31, 2023 … [Trump Media] management had substantial doubt that [th company] will have sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due,” the company said in its filing. The company also wrote that it has serious doubts that, at this rate, it will continue to stay in business.
Furthermore, it’s unclear that the company can do much to increase its revenue. Truth Social said it was to provide a platform for content creators who are censored elsewhere. But seeing as the website is largely used by right-wingers who spread misinformation and hate speech, that’s content that big-name advertisers don’t want to appear next to.
Truth Social has refused to publicly reveal its number of users, and the site could become increasingly unattractive to new users as Trump dehumanizes immigrants and threatens political violence during his 2024 re-election campaign.
While Trump could try to raise money for the business by selling his stock, it’s not a good look when the majority owner of a company starts selling off a lot of his own company’s shares. Doing so could create the appearance that he’s just trying to sell off shares while their value remains high, essentially “getting while the getting’s good,” and could inspire other stockholders to do the same, cratering the business’s stock value as a result.
This financial turmoil comes amid Trump himself owing $500 million in financial legal penalties for business fraud in New York and his defamation case against E. Jean Carroll. Trump has asked a court to decrease the penalties as he appeals the court decisions against him. Numerous media outlets reported that New York Attorney General Letitia James would have to repossess Trump’s properties in the state to pay off his debts.
