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Trump poised to clinch $1.3 billion social media company stock award

Reuters
ECHO WANG
April 23, 2024 at 5:20 AM
 
503fb5fa6abc66b7ebc20488943012c9

By Echo Wang

(Reuters) - Donald Trump is set to secure on Tuesday a stock bonus worth $1.3 billion from the company that operates his social media app Truth Social, equivalent to about half the majority stake he already owns in it, thanks to the wild rally in its shares.

The award will take the former U.S. President's overall stake in the company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), to $4.1 billion.

While Trump has agreed not to sell any of his TMTG shares before September, the windfall represents a significant boost to his wealth, which Forbes pegs at $4.7 billion.

Unlike much of his real estate empire, shares are easy to divest in the stock market and could come in handy as Trump's legal fees and fines pile up, including a $454.2 million judgment in his New York civil fraud case he is appealing.

The bonus also reflects the exuberant trading in TMTG's shares, which have been on a roller coaster ride since the company listed on Nasdaq last month through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and was snapped up by Trump supporters and speculators.

Trump will be entitled to the stock bonus under the terms of the SPAC deal once TMTG's shares stay above $17.50 for 20 trading days following the company's March 26 listing. They ended trading on Monday at $35.50, and they would have to lose more than half their value on Tuesday for Trump to miss out.

TMTG's current valuation of approximately $5 billion is equivalent to about 1,220 times the loss-making company's revenue in 2023 of $4.1 million.

 

No other U.S. company of similar market capitalization has such a high valuation multiple, LSEG data shows. This is despite TMTG warning investors in regulatory filings that its operational losses raise "substantial doubt" about its ability to remain in business.

A TMTG spokesperson declined to comment on the stock award to Trump. "With more than $200 million in the bank and zero debt, Trump Media is fulfilling all its obligations related to the merger and rapidly moving forward with its business plan," the spokesperson said.

While Trump's windfall is rich for a small, loss-making company like TMTG, the earnout structure that allows it is common. According to a report from law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, stock earnouts for management were seen in more than half the SPAC mergers completed in 2022.

However, few executives clinch these earnout bonuses because many SPAC deals end up performing poorly in the stock market, said Freshfields securities lawyer Michael Levitt. TMTG's case is rare because its shares are trading decoupled from its business prospects.

"Many earnouts in SPACs are never satisfied because many SPAC prices fall significantly after the merger is completed," Levitt said.

To be sure, TMTG made it easier for Trump to meet the earnout threshold. When TMTG agreed to merge with the SPAC in October 2021, the deal envisioned that TMTG shares had to trade above $30 for Trump to get the full earnout bonus. The two sides amended the deal in August 2023 to lower that threshold to $17.50, regulatory filings show.

Had that not happened, Trump would not have yet earned the full bonus because TMTG's shares traded below $30 last week. The terms of the deal, however, give Trump three years from the listing to win the full earnout, so he could have still earned it if the shares traded above the threshold for 20 days in any 30-day period during this time.

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TMTG's current valuation of approximately $5 billion is equivalent to about 1,220 times the loss-making company's revenue in 2023 of $4.1 million.

1,220 times the annual revenue.

This in no way makes any kind of financial sense and is a legal pyramid scheme.

Best be one of the first ones out...last one out turn off the lights please.

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10 minutes ago, ViperGTS/Z1 said:

SUH-WEEEET !!! 👍👍

GOOD FOR HIM MAGA 24!   Deserves every penny and then some. :thumbsup:

He deserves all your pennies, send more!

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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, akvanden said:

He deserves all your pennies, send more!

Oh  now wait.....did I miss something?....... I have my eyes open for the next big thing. Will jump immediately on anything.like the sneaks :thumbsup:...no matter the price

Edited by ViperGTS/Z1
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1 hour ago, ViperGTS/Z1 said:

Oh  now wait.....did I miss something?....... I have my eyes open for the next big thing. Will jump immediately on anything.like the sneaks :thumbsup:...no matter the price


No need to be so materialistic: He’s on the verge of saving this country - every penny (of yours) counts. He deserves it. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, akvanden said:


No need to be so materialistic: He’s on the verge of saving this country - every penny (of yours) counts. He deserves it. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

That is a very true statement.....the existence of America as we know it is in the balance of this election.  4 more years of Biden will basically do us in.        Plus the path for the dirt bag immigrants to vote will likely be wide open as well.

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44 minutes ago, ViperGTS/Z1 said:

the existence of America as we know it is in the balance of this election

Words spoken by the far right/left every 4 years. 

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1 hour ago, ViperGTS/Z1 said:

That is a very true statement.....the existence of America as we know it is in the balance of this election.  4 more years of Biden will basically do us in.        Plus the path for the dirt bag immigrants to vote will likely be wide open as well.

Yeah they said the same thing with Obama in 2012. :lol:

 

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28 minutes ago, SSFB said:

Yeah they said the same thing with Obama in 2012. :lol:

 

Open your eyes you fucking tool bag.  You think this country has gotten to a better place since obummer started this mess?  How about the world???   Iran is a couple weeks from a nuke.  China is looking at Taiwan with drool down its lip.  N Korea is testing missiles constantly.  First time Israel has been shot at by Iran ever.  People shouting death to America on American soil.  I could go on and on....  Ya we are sure on the right track....  Fuck me no wonder why I don't come on this site much anymore.  Ignorance is bliss.....  

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1 minute ago, poopooforme said:

Open your eyes you fucking tool bag.  You think this country has gotten to a better place since obummer started this mess?  How about the world???   Iran is a couple weeks from a nuke.  China is looking at Taiwan with drool down its lip.  N Korea is testing missiles constantly.  First time Israel has been shot at by Iran ever.  People shouting death to America on American soil.  I could go on and on....  Ya we are sure on the right track....  Fuck me no wonder why I don't come on this site much anymore.  Ignorance is bliss.....  

Clueless. Yammering on about shit that has been said for over a decade now. :lol:

 

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2 minutes ago, SSFB said:

Clueless. Yammering on about shit that has been said for over a decade now. :lol:

 

Fuck off.  I buy your plane ticket out of here if you think there is somewhere better to go.  You don't deserve the freedom this country affords you.  Fuck you you piece of shit.  

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Just now, poopooforme said:

Fuck off.  I buy your plane ticket out of here if you think there is somewhere better to go.  You don't deserve the freedom this country affords you.  Fuck you you piece of shit.  

I love it here, why would I leave? 
 

You’re the one crying so shut the fuck up.

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12 minutes ago, poopooforme said:

Open your eyes you fucking tool bag.  You think this country has gotten to a better place since obummer started this mess?  How about the world???   Iran is a couple weeks from a nuke.  China is looking at Taiwan with drool down its lip.  N Korea is testing missiles constantly.  First time Israel has been shot at by Iran ever.  People shouting death to America on American soil.  I could go on and on....  Ya we are sure on the right track....  Fuck me no wonder why I don't come on this site much anymore.  Ignorance is bliss.....  

Shit, Iran was basically penniless when Trump was Prez...... Now they are making billions from their oil and other sanctions that have been removed. Plus I believe Biden also released billions in cash to them.....real smart , basically funding  terrorism

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On 4/23/2024 at 6:56 PM, poopooforme said:

Open your eyes you fucking tool bag.  You think this country has gotten to a better place since obummer started this mess?  How about the world???   Iran is a couple weeks from a nuke.  China is looking at Taiwan with drool down its lip.  N Korea is testing missiles constantly.  First time Israel has been shot at by Iran ever...  

So you say this country has gotten worse and then only cite situations in other countries that are completely unrelated?  Do you think or just repeat brainless rhetoric?  Thought you were smarter than that...

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53 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

So you say this country has gotten worse and then only cite situations in other countries that are completely unrelated?  Do you think or just repeat brainless rhetoric?  Thought you were smarter than that...

He listed a bunch of reasons that he believes the US is in bad shape and then immediately after that says people that don’t like it here should leave.

He ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

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