Donald Trump just got another $1.8 billion worth of Trump Media stock
By Matt Egan, CNN
(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump just landed another $1.8 billion worth of stock in the corporate owner of Truth Social.
Trump Media & Technology Group disclosed the windfall for Trump in a filing Tuesday, saying the former president has received another 36 million shares in the company.
That bonus, known as “earnout” shares, was triggered by the company’s share price staying above certain levels.
Trump Media said in the filing that on April 26 it officially determined the performance criteria “had been satisfied” and Trump was “subsequently issued the Earnout Shares.”
At current prices, those new shares are valued at approximately $1.8 billion on paper – though the share price has been extremely volatile.
Trump now holds an even more dominant stake in Trump Media, amounting to 114.75 million shares, or 64.9% of the total outstanding.
According to SEC filings, the full earnout of 40 million shares to pre-merger shareholders would be paid if the company’s dollar volume-weighted average price equaled or exceeded $17.50 for any 20 trading days within any 30-day trading period beginning on March 25.
Tuesday, April 23 marked the 20th trading day for Trump Media, and the stock has not traded below that $17.50 level at any point during that timeframe.
The value of Trump’s stake in the company – and his net worth overall – has swung wildly in recent weeks in tandem with the volatile share price.
The earnout shares Trump just received are subject to lock-up restrictions that prevent insiders from selling or even borrowing against their stock for months, according to filings.
Even if Trump is able to get around the lock-up agreement, experts say it would be challenging for him to quickly sell his stake without crashing the stock price. Trump is not just the chairman and most popular user on Truth Social, he is by far the largest shareholder.
Trump Media’s share price has been subject to extreme turbulence.
It peaked at $66 on March 27, its second day as a public company. The stock crashed to a post-merger low of $22.84 on April 16 and has since more than doubled to nearly $50.
Even though Trump Media plunged since late March, it never came close to breaching levels that would have threatened this bonus.
The-CNN-Wire
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