Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at 40 Wall Street after his court hearing to set the date of his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments related to extramarital affairs in New York City, March 25, 2024.
Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Images
Donald Trump is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in court penalties, his presidential campaign is facing a cash crunch and his companies have been recording operating losses for years.
But on Monday afternoon, Trump was richer than ever.
Trump’s net worth has risen by more than $4 billion in recent days to about $6.5 billion, according to Bloomberg, which tracks the world’s 500 richest people.
The bonanza was the result of a merger approved Friday between Trump’s social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, and a shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., known as DWAC.
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Trump owns nearly 80 million shares, or about 58%, of Trump Media, which operates his social media site Truth Social. At the DWAC closing price on Monday $49.95 per shareTrump’s shares were worth $4 billion on paper.
The newly merged social media company said it will begin trading on Tuesday under the ticker symbol DJT.
DWAC’s stock price shot up 35% in Monday trading after a New York appeals court cut the amount of cash the former president needs to obtain a bond, sparing him from immediately paying a $454 civil fraud penalty saved millions of US dollars.
Early Monday, Trump appeared unable to raise more than $550 million to secure a bond that would prevent the state from seizing his real estate assets.
Shortly after 10 a.m., an appeals court ruled that Trump only had to post bail of $175 million. The court also suspended the due date of the judgment for ten days.
Trump says he has the money to pay off this bond.
As a result of the media merger and adjusted bond, Trump, 77, was added to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Monday for the first time in his life, the news agency said.
However, it is unclear whether his net worth will remain this high. Trump is not allowed to sell his DWAC shares for six months, and the stock has a volatile share price history.
Trump Media had revenue of less than $3.5 million in the first nine months of 2023 while posting a net loss of $49 million over the same period.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle described Trump’s media company on Friday as a meme stock largely dependent on one man.
Bloomberg said its estimate of Trump’s net worth was based on ethical disclosures required of presidential candidates, public filings related to key real estate holdings and personnel reports.
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2024-03-26 00:54:02
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