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Trump's Truth Social shares are plunging again, erasing billions of dollars in value

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind social media platform Truth Social, plunged for a second consecutive day on Monday.
Scott Olson
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Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind social media platform Truth Social, plunged for a second consecutive day on Monday.

About two weeks since its meteoric debut, shares of Truth Social are slumping, wiping out billions of dollars in value in former President's Trump's stake.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group — the company behind Truth Social — lost 8% on Monday after already losing 12% on Friday.

It's now trading at its lowest level since the company's trading debut on March 26. Trading has been remarkably volatile since its debut, with some big swings.

The sharp declines over the past two days will take a big bite out of Trump's paper gains.

The former president owns a majority stake in the company and his stake was valued at about $2.9 billion on Monday, down from a peak of over $6 billion after its debut on its trading debut.

That's still an eyebrow-raising valuation for former president's stake considering Trump Media lost $58 million last year and had revenue of just over $4 million.

Under his current agreement, Trump is not allowed to sell his shares until September, but he can seek permission from Trump Media's board to unload some of his stake earlier.

The board is made up of people Trump knows well, including his son, Donald J. Trump Jr., and former administration officials.

Analysts had cautioned that Trump Media shares were trading completely divorced from its actual financial health.

But shares are being sustained by thousands of individual investors, many who are believed to be strong Trump supporters.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Rafael Nam
Rafael Nam is NPR's senior business editor.