Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news 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 soared more than 25% on Friday, minutes after majority owner Donald Trump said he did not sell his shares.
“I have absolutely no intention of selling,” said the Republican presidential candidate, who will be free to start selling nearly 57% of his holdings in less than a week when lock-in agreement expired.
Trading in the stock was briefly halted following Trump’s comments to reporters at his golf club in California on Friday afternoon.
Trump said Truth Social, the Twitter-like social media platform owned by Trump Media, has been “great to me,” adding that his stake is still worth more than $1 billion.
“But I don’t want to sell my shares. I won’t sell my shares,” he said.
“I don’t do it for the money. I do it because I really want to have a strong voice, and that’s a great voice for me,” he said. “And as long as my voice is there, it’s always going to be good.”
The company’s value initially soared when it began trading under the ticker DJT on the Nasdaq in late March after completing a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
But the stock has fallen sharply in recent months, down as much as 80% from its intraday high.
“A lot of people think the reason the price is down is because a lot of people think I’m going to sell and if I sell, the price won’t be the same anymore,” Trump said Friday.
Trump Media, which reported a multimillion-dollar loss on meager revenue in its most recent quarterly earnings report, claimed in an SEC filing that Truth Social depends on Trump’s continued popularity.
The company still boasts a market capitalization of more than $3.7 billion. Analysts say investing in Trump Media has become a way for Trump fans to support him or bet on his political fortunes.
This week, the company’s stock price fell to its lowest level since the merger 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.
