Topline
Trump Media, which lost $20 million last quarter while expanding into new products, including crypto, awarded CEO Devin Nunes $5.9 million in stock on Wednesday, with the shares set to vest over three years, according to an SEC filing.
Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ: DJT)—the parent company of Truth Social and the Truth+ streaming platform and holder of about $2 billion worth of bitcoin—awarded Nunes 348,000 restricted stock units on Wednesday under its 2024 equity incentive plan.
The stock will vest in equal annual installments through May 2028, contingent on Nunes remaining with the company.
Based on Friday’s closing price of $17, Nunes’ new stock is worth about $5.9 million, bringing the value of his total stake in Trump Media—1.4 million shares and restricted stock units—to approximately $24.4 million.
Last week, Trump Media disclosed a second-quarter net loss of $20 million on $883,300 in revenue—about what a mall-based Chick-fil-A typically brings in—though the company highlighted recent achievements including holding $3.1 billion in financial assets (mostly bitcoin it purchased with the proceeds of a private placement), launching a subscription service for Truth+ and filing registration statements with the SEC to launch a crypto-focused ETF.
The company also issued 142,000 restricted stock units each—worth $2.4 million—to CFO Phillip Juhan, CTO Vladimir Novachki and General Counsel Scott Glabe.
Company spokesperson Shannon Devine declined to specify what criteria Nunes met to receive the restricted stock units, but touted the firm’s “uncancellable social media platform,” bitcoin holdings and first quarter of positive operating cash flow.
The company didn’t say, and its SEC filings and press releases do not appear to offer a clear rationale. Under Trump Media’s 2024 equity incentive plan, a board committee has broad discretion to grant bonuses based on 33 possible criteria, including financial performance, stock price targets and corporate transactions.
Before joining Trump Media, Nunes was a 10-term Republican congressman and chair of the House Intelligence Committee from rural California, earning $174,000 annually. Trump tapped him to be CEO and a director of the company in December 2021. While his business experience appears to be limited to his family’s dairy farm, Trump Media pitched Nunes to investors as a leader with “familiarity with public scrutiny and media savvy.” In recent months, the company has launched an iPad app for Truth Social, entered public beta for an AI search engine, raised $2.3 billion from a private placement to fund a bitcoin treasury, filed to launch a crypto ETF and rolled out its Truth+ streaming platform globally.
$47 million: That’s the total compensation Trump Media awarded to Nunes in 2024—including salary, bonuses and stock—though much of the equity won’t vest until 2027.
On Monday, a new special-purpose acquisition company—New America Acquisition I Corp., which is targeting firms with a role in domestic manufacturing—named Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump to its advisory board. According to SEC filings, Don Jr. received 2 million founder shares in the company, while Eric received 3 million. Trump Media, where Don Jr. serves on the board and acts as trustee for his father’s 115 million shares, also went public via a SPAC—a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. that took 29 months to consummate. Separately, Nunes and Eric Swider, another Trump Media board member who led Digital World, launched another SPAC in March, aiming to acquire a firm in the cryptocurrency and blockchain, data security, and dual-use technology sectors.
Last week, a federal judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit Nunes filed against NBCUniversal over a 2021 comment by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow about his communications with a suspected Russian agent.
Forbes estimates Donald Trump’s net worth at $5.1 billion.
In November 2023, Trump Media sued 20 media outlets, including Forbes, for reporting that included calculations of its financial results while still a private company. The defendants have moved to dismiss the claims, but the case is ongoing.
Trump Media Board Member Who Led SPAC Merger Sells Nearly All His Shares (Forbes)
Truth Social Hosted Party At Trump’s Mar-A-Lago (Forbes)
When It Comes To Truth Social, Republicans In Congress Aren’t Buying What Trump’s Selling (Forbes)
The Tech Mogul Behind Trump’s Truth Social Used To Own Porn Domains (Forbes)
‘We’d Call That Corruption’: How Trump Used The Presidency To Expand His Global Empire (Forbes)