SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Trump Media and Technology Group, owner of former President Donald Trump’s social networking site Truth Social, lost more than $300 million last quarter, according to its first earnings report as a publicly traded company.
For the three-month period ended March 31, the company posted a loss of $327.6 million, which it said included $311 million in non-cash expenses related to its merger with a company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., which was essentially a lot of money. of money looking for a target to merge with. It is an example of a so-called Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), which can offer young companies faster and easier routes to have their shares traded publicly.
A year earlier, Trump Media posted a loss of $210,300.
Trump Media said it brought in $770,500 in revenue in the first quarter, thanks in large part to its “nascent advertising initiative.” That was down from $1.1 million a year earlier.
“At this early stage in the company’s development, TMTG remains focused on long-term product development, rather than quarterly revenue,” Trump Media said in its earnings press release.
Earlier this month, the company fired an accountant who federal regulators recently accused of “massive fraud.” The former president’s media company dismissed BF Borgers as an independent accounting firm on May 3, delaying the filing of its quarterly earnings report, a securities filing shows.
Trump Media had previously passed over at least two other auditors — one who resigned in July 2023, and another who was fired from the board in March, just as BF Borgers was rehired.
Shares of Trump Media rose 36 cents to $48.74 in after-hours trading. The stock, which trades under the ticker symbol “DJT,” began trading on the Nasdaq in March and peaked at nearly $80 in late March.
