Trump Media Shares Soar After Trump Says ‘I’m Not Selling’
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump sent shares of his social media startup soaring Friday after he said he has “absolutely no intention of selling” his stake when a lockup period is set to expire late next week.
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Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., parent of Truth Social, surged as much as 30% immediately following the former president’s comments at a California campaign event. More than half the gains evaporated over the next 20 minutes, and the stock closed up 12% to $17.97.
Trump and other insiders are restricted from selling their shares for roughly six months in the aftermath of Trump Media’s merger with a blank-check company in March. He owns nearly 115 million shares, or about 60% of the company, valued at roughly $2.1 billion.
The stock had been mired in a brutal seven-week slide, wiping out billions in value on concern that Trump or other large holders might sell shares in big chunks that would create more selling pressure.
“No, I’m not selling,” Trump said in California. “People think the reason it’s down is that a lot of people think I’m going to sell. I can understand that, but I have absolutely no intention of selling.”
Trump Media has been something of a meme stock, soaring to dizzying valuations even as the company’s underlying operations have generated scant revenue and no profits. For some, the stock served as a proxy of sorts for Trump’s election chances, though that correlation has broken down in recent weeks as the former president returned to Elon Musk’s X platform.
Even after Friday’s rally, the stock is still down more than 50% from a high reached July 15 in the aftermath of an assassination attempt on Trump. The company is worth roughly $3.6 billion, down from a high of $9.6 billion in early May.
Market watchers have debated whether Trump would sell shares, with some suggesting an exit could indicate he is prioritizing personal profits and alienating loyal followers who have poured money into the stock.
“If he sells shares before the election and the stock price drops, it is likely that he will be getting some bad publicity,” said Jay Ritter, professor of finance at the University of Florida.
A Trump Media spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Trump will likely be able to start selling shares as soon as the evening of Sept. 19, when a lockup period barring insiders from sales is lifted. So will his co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, both former contestants on The Apprentice, as well as Patrick Orlando, whose fund, ARC Global Investments II LLC, sponsored the special-purpose acquisition company that merged with Trump Media.
--With assistance from Justin Sink.
(Updates share price in second paragraph.)
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