After Donald Trump won the election, the stock related to his social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group, initially saw a quick rise in value. However, that rise didn’t last long, and soon the stock started to drop significantly, falling by 42% from its peak earlier in the week. This kind of situation, where investors buy before a potentially good news event and sell afterward to cash in on profits, is known as “buy the rumor and sell the news.”
On Friday, as the stock continued to struggle, Trump made a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, aimed at addressing rumors that he might be selling his shares in the company. In his message, he insisted that these rumors were false and stated, “I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!” This post had an immediate effect, causing the stock to rebound by nearly 15%, which boosted Trump’s net worth by about half a billion dollars. With this increase, Trump’s 114.75 million shares are now valued at around $3.7 billion, up from approximately $3.2 billion just before the market opened that day.
Although the stock saw some growth that day, it only managed to increase by about 4.4% over the course of the entire week. This company has been described as a “meme stock,” which means its value fluctuates wildly and does not always reflect the underlying performance of the business. Over the past year, the stock has largely been influenced by Trump’s political prospects, rising sharply at times when it seemed like his chances in the election were improving, and then dropping significantly when those chances seemed less favorable.
Read Also: Bitcoin Reaches $80,000: Trump Promotes Crypto
Compared to major social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram, Truth Social’s business is quite small. In fact, the company has been facing financial difficulties and reported less than $1 million in revenue for the last quarter.
Trump has claimed that he has no intention of selling his shares. However, doing so could be complicated since the company’s value is closely tied to Trump’s ownership and involvement in Truth Social. His Friday post reassured investors that he plans to stay with the company, even as he assumes the responsibilities of being President.
There are ongoing concerns about the ethics of Trump benefiting financially from posts he makes on this social media platform, given his various business interests and connections.
