Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group fell in midday trading Friday after President-elect Donald Trump transferred all of his shares to a revocable trust, according to a regulatory filing.
Mr. Trump sold all of his roughly 115 million shares, worth about $4 billion on paper, to the social networking service’s parent company. Networking site Truth Social Thursday’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission describes it as a “bona fide gift” to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Mr. Trump’s shares account for more than half of the company’s stock.
It is unclear why President Trump transferred the stock. Donald Trump Jr. is the sole trustee and has sole voting and investment rights in all securities owned by the trust.
Trump Media stock was down about 2% at $34.68 a share as of midday. At one point on Friday, it was down about 6%.
Trump Media stock has been extremely volatile since the company began trading in March. It reached an intraday high of nearly $80 on the first day of trading, but fell to an all-time low in September when the standard lock-up agreement expired and President Trump and other insiders were finally allowed to sell stock. It fell to Trump has not sold any shares in the company.
The company’s stock price has fluctuated wildly in response to both good and bad news related to President Trump. It fell after Trump was found guilty in a hush money trial in May, but soared after the first assassination attempt on Trump in July. Shares soared again after he was re-elected in November, even though the company reported a $19.2 million loss in the third quarter.
Trump founded Trump Media after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
