Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on September 13, 2024.
Robyn Beck | Afp | Getty Images
Shares of Trump Media shot up by more than 25% on Friday, minutes after majority owner Donald Trump said he is not selling his stake.
“I have absolutely no intention of selling,” said the Republican presidential nominee, who will be free to start cashing in his nearly 57% stake in less than a week when a lockup agreement expires.
Trading in the stock was halted briefly Friday afternoon after Trump’s comments to the press at his golf club in California.
Trump said that Truth Social, the Twitter-like social media platform owned by Trump Media, is “great for me,” adding that his stake is still worth more than $1 billion.
“But I don’t want to sell my shares. I’m not going to sell my shares,” he said.
“I didn’t do it for the money. I did it because I really wanted to have a strong voice, and it’s a great voice for me,” he said. “And as long as my voice is on there, it’s going to always be good.”
The company’s value initially soared when it first began trading as DJT on the Nasdaq in late March after completing a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
But the stock has plummeted in recent months, falling as much as 80% from its intraday peak.
“A lot of people think the reason it’s down, is that a lot of people think I’m going to sell and if I sell, it wouldn’t be the same,” Trump said Friday.
Trump Media, which has reported multimillion-dollar losses on scant revenue in its latest quarterly earnings reports, has said in SEC filings that Truth Social depends on Trump’s continued popularity.
The company still boasts a market capitalization of more than $3.7 billion. Analysts have said that investing in Trump Media has become a way for Trump’s fans to support him or bet on his political fortunes.
The company fell to its post-merger low point this week amid concerns that Trump might start selling his shares once he is free to do so.
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— CNBC’s Josephine Rozzelle contributed reporting.