Topline
The share price of the social media company majority owned by Donald Trump skyrocketed Monday, furthering the trend as prediction markets drift in favor of the former president, minting billions of dollars in additional net worth for Trump on paper.
Key Facts
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the Truth Social platform, spiked almost 22 20% to about $47 by market close, registering their highest closing share price since May 31.
That rally added close to $900 million to Trump’s net worth Monday, with Trump’s 57% stake in the firm making up about $5.5 billion of his $7.5 billion fortune, according to Forbes’ calculations.
Big Number
$3.8 billion. That’s how much Trump’s net worth is up over the last month as the share price of his namesake company rose more than 200%.
Key Background
Monday’s rally for Trump Media stock, which trade under the ticker $DJT as a nod to Trump’s initials, did not have a clear catalyst stemming from its underlying business, but rather appeared to trace back to a shift in Trump’s election odds. FiveThirtyEight’s poll-based election model gives Trump a 54% chance at defeating Vice President Kamala Harris next month, up from 42% a month ago and 51% a week ago, while the popular election betting platform Polymarket gives Trump 66% odds of victory, up from 48% a month ago and 64% a week ago. Trump Media began trading as an independent entity in March after a 2.5-year-long process involving a reverse merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company. Trump became eligible to start selling shares in the company last month, though he has said he has no plans to do so.
Contra
Trump Media’s exploding valuation is particularly notable considering some pundits deem an investment in the social media company much more a vote of confidence in Trump than one in the core business, as the firm’s financial statements don’t exactly resemble those of the typical multibillion-dollar company. Trump Media’s $1.6 million in revenue over the first six months of 2024 are a fraction of the comparable sales from fellow public social media companies Reddit ($524 million) and Snap ($2.4 billion), while Reddit’s and Snap’s $13 billion and $17 billion respective market values are comparable to Trump Media’s $9 billion.
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