Trump’s social media company rises 40% in its Nasdaq debut
- Trump Media & Technology Group – acquired on Monday by a blank-check company called Digital World Acquisition – runs the social media platform Truth Social
- Before trading began, Trump Media had a market value of about US$6.8 billion, a figure that will rise significantly if the early gains in the shares hold
Shares of Donald Trump’s social media company jumped 40 per cent in the first day of trading on the Nasdaq, boosting the value of the former president’s large stake in the company in the process.
Trump Media & Technology Group runs the social media platform Truth Social. Before trading began, Trump Media had a market value of about US$6.8 billion, a figure that will rise significantly if the early gains in the shares hold. The shares are trading under the ticker symbol “DJT”. Trump holds a nearly 60 per cent ownership stake in the company.
Trump Media & Technology Group was acquired on Monday by a blank-check company called Digital World Acquisition Corp. Trump Media now takes Digital World’s place on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Many of Digital World’s investors were small-time investors either trying to support Trump or aiming to cash in on the mania, instead of big institutional and professional investors. Those shareholders helped the stock more than double this year in anticipation of the merger going through.
They’re betting on a company that has yet to turn a profit. Trump Media lost US$49 million in the first nine months of last year, when it brought in just US$3.4 million in revenue and had to pay US$37.7 million in interest expenses.