Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group fell in afternoon trading on Friday after President-elect Donald Trump transferred all of his shares to a revocable trust, according to a regulatory filing.
Trump transferred all of his nearly 115 million shares — worth about $4 billion on paper — in the parent company of the social networking site Truth Social as a “bona fide gift” to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which the Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted. said on Thursday. Trump’s shares represent more than half of the company’s shares.
It is not clear why Trump transferred the shares. Donald Trump Jr. is the sole trustee and has sole voting and investment power over all securities owned by the trust.
Shares of Trump Media fell about 2% to $34.68 each around noon. At one point Friday they were down about 6%.
Trump Media stock has been extremely volatile since the company began trading in March. They reached intraday highs of nearly $80 on the first day of trading, then fell to a low in September when Trump and other insiders were finally allowed to sell shares after standard lock-up agreements expired. Trump has not sold any shares in the company.
The company’s stock price has fluctuated wildly due to news – good and bad – related to Trump. They plummeted after Trump’s conviction in a hush-money trial in May, then rose after Trump’s first assassination attempt in July. They rose again after he won re-election in November, even as the company reported a loss of $19.2 million in the third quarter.
Trump founded Trump Media after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
