Trump Media & Technology Group "DJT" lost about $2.8 billion in value, as some of the retailers who frantically bid on the stock last month began selling, according to Bloomberg.
The social media company owned mostly by former President Donald Trump has fallen 37% since it shut down on March 26. The stock fell below where it was trading on March 22, when investors approved its tie-up with Digital World Acquisition Corp.
Trump Media, which owns Truth Social, rose in its early days as a public company after the private company merged with DWAC, as the shell company was known.
But the stock, which trades under Trump's initials DJT, has struggled to attract the attention of retail investors who bought shares as a way to support the former president in his 2024 reelection campaign.
As stocks fell, Trump's own windfall of about $1.6 billion fell to roughly $2.9 billion. For Trump to benefit from the paper wealth, he will have to wait six months, before he can sell the shares under an insurance agreement.
Trump Media began trading amid a torrent of legal problems facing the former president, including four criminal trials. He is one week away from the start of his first criminal trial in Manhattan, in which he is accused of falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election.
He is also set to be deposed soon in a civil lawsuit against him and Trump Media by two of the founders, who allege Trump tried to dilute their shares before the merger.
Trump Media's market cap is about $5 billion even after the recent decline, even though it generated just $4.1 million in revenue last year.
This high valuation has made betting against the company expensive and risky, with short sellers facing annual financing costs of more than 450% to borrow shares, according to brokerage firms.
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