Donald Trump set to receive $1.25 billion worth of Trump Media stock in DJT earnout bonus
Anna
Barclay
|
Getty
Images
Former
President
Donald
Trump
is
poised
to
receive
an
additional
36
million
shares
of
Trump
Media
on
Tuesday
—
an “earnout”
bonus
worth
more
than
$1.25
billion,
at
Monday’s
price.
Trump
Media,
which
owns
the
Truth
Social
app,
closed
trading
Monday
at
$35.50
per
share,
down
2.42%,
and
about
half
the
price
that
the
DJT
ticker
began
public
trading
at
in
late
March.
But
that
closing
price
is
still
twice
the
$17.50
benchmark
minimum
share
price
that
Trump
Media
has
to
hit
by
the
close
of
trading
Tuesday
for
the
former
president
to
become
eligible
for
the
extra
so-called
earnout
shares.
That
earnout
is
contingent
on
the
benchmark
being
hit
for
20
trading
days
within
a
30-trading-day
period,
beginning
March
25.
Tuesday
is
the
20th
day
—
and
it
is
very
unlikely
that
DJT
will
fall
below
the
benchmark
price
by
the
close
of
trading
then.
The
36
million
additional
shares
Trump
seems
set
to
get
would
be
added
to
the
78.75
million
shares
he
already
owns,
as
the
company’s
majority
shareholder.
When
the
earnout
shares
are
added
to
his
existing
stock,
Trump’s
total
stake
in
Trump
Media
would
be
worth
more
than
$4
billion
on
paper,
at
$35
a
share.
Trump Media
has
the
power
to
issue
a
total
of
40
million
earnout
shares,
as
part
of
the
merger
deal
that
combined
it
with
a
publicly
traded
shell
company,
Digital
World
Acquisition
Corp.
“Assuming
the
full
issuance
of
the
Earnout
Shares,
President
Donald
J. Trump will
receive
36,000,000
Earnout
Shares,”
the
company
said
in
a
securities
filing. The
filing
suggests
that
some,
if
not
all,
of
the
remaining
shares
will
be
issued
to Trump Media’s
executive
officers
as
part
of
an
incentive
plan.
Trump
was
in
a
New
York
City
courtroom
Monday,
listening
to
opening
statements
in
his
criminal
hush
money
trial.
Court
resumes
Tuesday
for
the
presumptive
Republican
presidential
nominee.
The
merged
company,
whose
full
name
is
Trump
Media
&
Technology
Group
Corp.,
began
public
trading
under
the
DJT
ticker
on
March
26,
at
an
opening
price
of
$70.90
per
share.
That
price
rose
to
a
high
of
nearly
$80
that
day,
briefly
giving
the
company
a
market
capitalization
of
more
than
$9
billion.
This
was
despite
having
reported
a
2023
net
loss
of
$58
million,
and
just
$4.1
million
in
revenue.
But
since
then,
Trump
Media’s
share
price
has
plunged.
By
the
close
of
trading
on
April
15,
the
share
price
had
fallen
nearly
68%
from
its
opening
price.
The
stock
price
rose
sharply
last
week.
But
as
of
Monday,
Trump
Media
shares
were
still
trading
around
50%
lower
than
their
debut
price,
erasing
billions
of
dollars
in
market
capitalization
for
the
company.
The
last
time
the
stock
traded
at
the
benchmark
minimum
share
price
of
$17.50
was
in
January,
before
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
greenlighted
DWAC
and
Trump
Media’s
plans
to
merge.
It
remains
to
be
seen
if
the
issuance
of
the
earnout
shares
to
Trump
will
affect
the
share
price
of
Trump
Media.
Any
shares
that
Trump
owns
are
subject
to
a
lock-up
provision
that
prevents
him
from
selling
them
in
the
six
months
following
the
merger’s
closing
date.
While
Trump
Media’s
board
could
amend
that
provision,
to
date,
it
has
not
taken
any
steps
to
do
so.
CNBC
asked
a
company
spokeswoman
about
the
expected
triggering
of Trump’s
earnout
shares.
She
replied, “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.”
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