Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group fell to their lowest level ever on Friday, the first trading day 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 8% to close at $13.55, putting the company’s value at less than $3 billion. Mr. Trump owns more than half of it.
The billionaire and other company insiders have been unable to profit from the highly volatile stock because of standard lock-up agreements that prevent large stakeholders from selling stakes for a set period after a company goes public. TMTG began trading publicly in March.
Donald Trump owns about 115 million shares of the company, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Based on TMTG’s stock price 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 risk a broader selloff.
Since Trump Media Group went public, its shares have fluctuated wildly, often based on news related to its largest shareholder, the Republican presidential candidate.
A week ago, the company’s shares jumped nearly 12% after Mr. Trump said he would not sell shares when the lockdown was lifted. The stock fell more than 10% after the debate earlier this month between the Republican and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. In mid-July, the stock soared more than 31% in the first day of trading after the first attempt on Trump’s life.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is now worth considerably less than it was several months ago. When the company debuted on the Nasdaq in March, shares peaked at $79.38. Friday’s closing price represents an 83% decline from that peak.
Truth Social was born when Donald Trump was banned from Twitter (now X) and Facebook following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Based in Sarasota, Florida, Trump Media is 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.