He former president of the United StatesDonald Trump sent shares of his social media startup soaring on Friday, September 13, after saying he has “absolutely no intention of selling” his stake when the lockup period expires at the end of next week.
Trump Media & Technology Group, matriz de Truth Social, rose as much as 30 percent immediately after the former president’s comments at a campaign event in California.
More than half of the gains evaporated in the next 20 minutes and the shares closed up 12 percent at $17.97.
Trump and other members of his team are prohibited from selling their shares for about six months after the merger. Trump Media with a blank check company in March.
Trump owns nearly 115 million shares, or about 60 percent of the company, valued at about $2.1 billion.
What did Trump say in California?
Stocks had been mired in a brutal seven-week slump, erasing billions of dollars in value on concerns that Trump or other large shareholders could sell shares in large quantities, creating further selling pressure.
“No, I’m not going to sell,” Trump said in California. “People think the reason it’s going down is because a lot of people think I’m going to sell. I can understand that, but I have no intention of selling.”
Trump Media It has been something of a meme stock, with skyrocketing valuations even as the company’s underlying operations have generated scant revenue and no profits.
For some, the move served as a sort of bellwether for Trump’s electoral chances, though that correlation has been broken in recent weeks as the former president returned to Elon Musk’s Platform X.
Even after Friday’s rally, the stock is still 50 percent below its peak reached on July 15 following the attempted assassination of Trump. The company is worth about $3.6 billion, down from a peak of $9.6 billion reached in early May.
Should Trump sell those shares?
Market observers have debated whether Trump would sell shares, and some have suggested that an exit could indicate he is prioritizing personal gains and alienating loyal followers who have invested money in the stock.
“If you sell stocks before an election and the stock price falls, you are likely to get bad press,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida.
A spokesperson for Trump Media did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
Trump will likely be able to start selling shares as early as the evening of September 19, when the blackout period preventing insiders from selling shares is lifted.
So will its co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, both former contestants on “The Apprentice,” as well as Patrick Orlando, whose fund, ARC Global Investments II LLC, sponsored the special purpose acquisition company that merged with Trump Media.
