By Alexandra Ulmer
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (Reuters) – Donald Trump is not selling any part of his majority stake in the company that owns Truth Social, and he will not abandon the social media platform he created, the Republican U.S. presidential candidate told reporters on Friday.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group soared as much as 30% after his comments and were recently up 11%.
Trump owns about 57% of Trump Media, whose shares plummeted this week after his televised debate with Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris.
The stock’s rise on Friday follows weeks of steady declines ahead of key dates this month, when Trump and other company insiders are allowed to sell their shares.
“No, I’m not selling,” the former president said in response to a question from Reuters. “I’m not leaving. I love it. I love it.”
Trump Media saw its value soar to nearly $10 billion after going public in March. Trump Media’s stock is popular among retail traders and is seen as a speculative bet on his chances of securing a second four-year term as president.
Since its IPO, however, Trump Media shares have lost most of their value. The losses have increased in recent weeks after President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election bid and Trump lost a significant lead in the polls ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Under terms of Trump Media’s listing, Trump and other insiders will be allowed to sell shares starting later this month, potentially flooding the market with additional shares.
If the stock price remains at or above $12 for 20 trading days beginning on August 22, Trump will be allowed to sell shares beginning on September 20. Otherwise, he will be allowed to sell shares beginning on September 26.
The stock last traded at $17.89 on Friday after Trump’s comments, making his stake worth about $2 billion. Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $3.7 billion.
Trump Media’s revenue is equal to two Starbucks coffee houses, and strategists say its $3.6 billion market cap is disconnected from the fundamentals of its business. It lost $869,900 in its most recent reported quarter, which ended June 30.
The upcoming lockup on Trump’s stock is “something that a lot of people on the Street have been watching for weeks, maybe since the beginning,” said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, ahead of Trump’s statement that he would not sell his stock.
A New York judge earlier this month delayed Trump’s sentencing in his hush-money case until Nov. 12, after the election, several months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on presidential immunity, easing at least the short-term burden on legal costs.
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Writing by Noel Randewich; Additional reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Megan Davies, David Ljunggren and Jonathan Oatis)
