Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group slid in midday trading Friday after President-elect Donald Trump transferred all of his shares into a revocable trust, according to a regulatory filing.
Trump transferred all of his nearly 115 million shares — worth around $4 billion on paper — in the parent company of social networking site Truth Social as a “bona fide gift” to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday said. Trump's shares amount to more than half of the company's stock.
[bold]It's not clear why Trump transferred the stock.[/bold] Donald Trump Jr. is the sole trustee and has sole voting and investment power over all securities owned by the trust.
Trump Media shares were down about 2% at midday, to $34.68 each. At one point Friday, they were down around 6%.
Trump Media shares have been extremely volatile since the company began trading in March. They reached intraday highs close to $80 on the first day of trading, then slumped to all-time lows in September when Trump and other insiders were finally allowed to sell shares after standard lock-up agreements expired. Trump has not sold any shares in the company.
The company's stock price has fluctuated wildly on news — good and bad — related to Trump. They tumbled after Trump's conviction in a hush money trial in May, then surged after the first assassination attempt on Trump in July. They surged again after he won re-election in November, even as the company reported a $19.2 million third-quarter loss.
Trump created Trump Media after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.