Former President Donald Trump’s net worth dipped below $4 billion Tuesday for the first time since his social media company went public last month, as shares of the Truth Social parent continue to go belly up—but Trump is still richer on paper than he was before his company’s public debut.
Trump arrives in Manhattan court Tuesday.
Trump’s fortune dips by more than $200 million to $3.8 billion, according to Forbes’ calculations, as shares of Trump Media fell 11% to come to a whopping 61% loss this month, knocking Trump’s social media grubstake to $1.9 billion (about half of Trump’s net worth comes from his Trump Media stake at this point).
Trump Media’s market value sinks below $5 billion, a far cry from its more than $10 billion peak just two weeks prior (Trump owns a majority of the company).
Trump Media’s first day of trading as its own stock brings its namesake’s net worth from $2.3 billion to $6.4 billion, and the value of his Trump Media stake peaks at some $6.25 billion when the company’s share price briefly peaked at nearly $80.
Shareholders of blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp. agree to merge with Trump Media after more than two years of roadblocks, with Trump’s paper holdings in the entity ending trading at a value of about $2.9 billion, though Forbes did not incorporate this into his net worth calculations until the merger officially completed as Trump only received his shares upon the completion of Digital World’s transformation to Trump Media.
Trump launched Truth Social in 2022 during his suspension from mainstream social media platforms for his posts leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol. The special-purpose acquisition (SPAC) firm Digital World announced its intent to merge with Trump Media three months before Truth Social’s launch, capitalizing on the SPAC craze which has since gone dry. The 10-figure sum Trump gained on paper via Trump Media’s listing came at an opportune time for the 77-year-old, as his legal troubles and related fees mount, beginning a criminal trial Monday in New York and posting a $175 million bond earlier this month.
Trump is not yet able to cash in on his Trump Media stake due to federal regulations, though his company’s filing this week to publicly list more shares may provide a quicker offramp. However, it’s entirely possible that the value of Trump’s social media holdings plummet further before he can sell any shares, considering typical metrics indicate his company is still extremely overvalued: Its $3.3 billion market cap is about 790 times its meager $4.1 million in revenue last year, giving it a price-to-sales ratio about 290 times higher than that of the average S&P 500 company.