Topline
United Atlantic Ventures LLC offloaded more than 7.5 million shares of former President Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group, a regulatory filing showed Thursday, almost completely eliminating its stake in the company.
United Atlantic Ventures LLC reduced its shares of Trump Media & Technology group following the end … [+]
Key Facts
The Securities and Exchange Commission filing indicated UAV dumped nearly all of its 5.5% stake of Trump Media—the parent company of Truth Social that trades as DJT—stating that in March UAV had 7,525,000 shares and, “as of the date of this filing, United Atlantic Ventures LLC owns 100 shares.”
The reporting person on the filing was Andrew Litinsky, a co-founder of the company and former contestant on “The Apprentice,” which starred Trump.
DJT was trading at $13.98 at market close on Thursday—down around 1% on the day but trading almost 76% lower than six months ago.
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Key Background
Major shareholders were able to start selling their stakes in Trump Media on Sept. 19 after a lockup period—a standard procedure for companies that go public that prevents certain shareholders from selling shares for a period of time—ended. United Atlantic Ventures, which was prevented from selling its stock in the lockup period, is a partnership company between Litinsky and Wes Moss, another former “The Apprentice” contestant, who pitched Trump the idea to create Trump Media, CNBC reported. Trump Media went public on March 26 after it combined with blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp. Trump Media has been considered a highly volatile “meme stock,” which is a stock that often became popular through social media and has price changes in response to non-earnings developments. Trump Media’s stock price has been regularly falling and hitting new lows in recent weeks.
Surprising Fact
Litinisky and Moss have traded lawsuits with Trump Media. In February, before the merger with DWAC, the co-founders sued the company, claiming the business was trying to dilute their stakes. A little more than one month later, Trump Media & Technology Group sued the pair, accusing them of several business failings and saying they shouldn’t receive their collective stake in the company.
Tangent
Though Trump is able to sell his stake in the company, he has indicated he won’t. He told reporters the week before the lockup period ended that he would not sell shares of Trump Media, saying, “I love it.”
Big Number
$2.8 billion. That’s DJT’s market cap. Reddit, another social media company that went public in March, has a market cap of $11 billion.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Trump to have a net worth of $3.7 billion as of Thursday at 5 p.m. EDT, making him the 945th-wealthiest person in the world. Much of Trump’s net worth is tied up in the company, as he owns about 57% of outstanding shares.
