Donald Trump has vowed that he has no plans to cash out of his massive stake in the parent company of his social media venture, Truth Social.
Wall Street is having a hard time believing that.
Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group have swung wildly in the two weeks since the former president said he wouldn’t sell “because I don’t want to have my voice shut down.” The stock first jumped on the news, before plunging 30 percent and dragging the price down to its lowest levels since debuting in the markets in March. The shares have since pared back some of those losses.
It’s a string of dramatic moves that financial experts say is at least partly attributable to a lingering anxiety among investors that Trump Media insiders, including Trump himself, could at any point dump shares in the market and send the stock falling further. The GOP presidential nominee holds nearly 115 million shares in the company — a stake worth about $1.6 billion.
At one time earlier this year, that stake was worth as much as $6 billion.
“He’s, shall we say, a mercurial person,” Interactive Brokers Chief Strategist Steve Sosnick said. “So it’s not 100 percent clear that he won’t change his mind — or hasn’t changed his mind.”
One major shareholder, United Atlantic Ventures, has already exited its position in Trump Media, according to a regulatory filing released Thursday. United Atlantic Ventures — whose managing member is Andrew Litinsky, a former contestant on Trump’s “The Apprentice” — owned more than 7.5 million shares earlier this year. It now holds 100, according to the filing.
‘Gambling on the election’: Trump Media investors on edge over stock’s fate – POLITICO