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Trump network Truth Social: The social media service's sales are still manageable
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Stefani Reynolds/AFP
Former US President Donald Trump's media company posted a loss of a good $58 million for its last financial year, with sales of around $4 million. Much of that was interest expense, and about $16 million was operating expenses. The figures published by the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) on Monday show an improvement in revenue compared to the previous year; in 2022 they were just under $1.5 million. At that time, the company reported an annual profit of $50.5 million thanks to a tax credit.
TMTG operates Donald Trump's Truth Social network, which competes for users and attention with services like X (formerly Twitter). The numbers now published suggest that the social media offering continues to have difficulty attracting advertisers. In the fourth quarter, TMTG even achieved lower income than in the previous quarter, at around $750,000.
There was great interest in the company's shares when they made their stock market debut last week. TMTG's shares, which were placed at $49.95, rose to almost $67 on their first day of trading. The parent company of Truth Social temporarily had a market value of over nine billion dollars. Its shares are traded on the stock exchange under the abbreviation “DJT” – the ex-president’s initials – and Trump holds a stake of almost 60 percent in the company. TMTG had taken a shortcut to enter the stock market by merging with a publicly traded shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp.
In view of its high losses in its ongoing business, the company now warned that it could run out of money. However, this is a mandatory warning to investors that is common in the USA and is not necessarily followed by bankruptcy. After the figures were published on Monday, the share price temporarily fell by almost 25 percent. Many of the investors in TMTG are small investors who are either trying to support Donald Trump or profit from the cult surrounding him.
mbö/dpa