Trump Adds $1 Billion to Fortune on Election Day

Donald Trump added more than $1 billion to his fortune on Wednesday after clinching the U.S. presidential election over his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.

The value of Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Trump’s social media network, Truth Social, surged this morning after media outlets projected Trump would win the election.

Shares of Trump Media, which trade under the ticker DJT, surged 35% in premarket trading, giving it a staggering market value of about $9 billion.

Trump is the dominant shareholder in the conservative social media network, which has little revenue and is losing money.

The president’s 114.75 million shares are worth about $5.3 billion in premarket trading, up from $3.9 billion when trading ended on Election Day.

Of course, these are gains on paper only, and in practice it would be difficult for Trump to sell much of these shares without the price falling.

Between September 23 and the end of October, Trump Media’s value has more than tripled — a staggering increase driven by bets on Trump winning the White House.

Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN that he wasn’t surprised to see Trump Media’s stock soar on Wednesday, because the stock is “the only option” for traders to bet on a Trump win.

Tuttle added that there is also likely to be “massive short squeeze” from the short bets on the stock’s value in recent days.

When a stock price starts to rise sharply, traders who are reluctant to buy it back to limit their losses. That, in turn, sends the price higher.

“A lot of people were fooled by the Iowa poll,” Tuttle said, referring to a poll conducted last weekend that found Trump no longer in the lead in a state he won twice.

Still, the price tag of Trump Media is hard to fathom. At about $9.5 billion, it’s now worth more than twice as much as Macy’s and four times as much as JetBlue Airways. That’s despite the fact that Trump Media generates very little revenue, and Truth Social is a relatively small player in social media.

“The size of his victory helps, but in the long run they need to come up with some kind of strategy,” Tuttle said.

Trump Media reported Tuesday afternoon that third-quarter revenue fell 5% to just $1 million, however the company's share jumped 261.72%, year to date.