Donald Trump’s net worth is dropping rapidly as investors continue to ditch stock in his media and technology company.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which owns the right-wing social media platform Truth Social, reported a loss before income taxes of $327.6 million last quarter; that comes out to a net loss of $3.61 per share attributable to shareholders, according to a Monday regulatory filing. Revenue dropped year-over-year to $770,500 from $1.12 million for the three-month period that ended in March.
TMTG stock fell more than 10% Tuesday before parsing some gains and closing at an 8.6% decline, or $44.19 per share. Shares are down almost half a percentage point in pre-market trading Wednesday as some of the more than 621,000 stockholders — most of which are retail investors — sell.
Trump is — by far — the largest owner of TMTG stock. As of Monday, he owned 64.9% of outstanding shares, up from 57.6% in March.
As a result, the former president’s net worth has shed $481 million, a 6.5% decline to $6.9 billion, according to Forbes. That leaves Trump as the 410th richest person in the world, right in between Polish billionaire Michal Solowow and Eswatini’s Nathan Kirsch.
Trump is currently fighting several legal cases and a re-election campaign against Democrat and incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden. His campaign on Tuesday said it would begin accepting donations in the form of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether to “build a crypto army moving the campaign to victory” in November.
A messy launch
Instead of pursuing a traditional public launch, Trump Media joined the Nasdaq by merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, following years of delays.
In the weeks since its debut, the company’s stock has been extremely volatile — skyrocketing to highs and plunging to lows from day to day, sometimes without any apparent explanation.
One week after going public, the company reported a 2023 loss from operations of almost $16 million, plus interest expense of $39.4 million, while bringing in just $4.1 million in revenue.
In the April 1 regulatory filing, Trump Media disclosed that it “lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time,” which it defined as one year from the filing date, raising “substantial doubt” as to its ability to continue operations. The company said it expects to continue incurring operating losses and negative cash flow “for the foreseeable future.”
Earlier this month, Trump Media replaced its audit firm after the SEC permanently banned the company from serving as accountants over findings of “massive fraud.” Trump Media warned last week that it would be filing its quarterly report late as a result of the changes.