SARASOTA, Fla. — Trump Media and Technology Group, owner of former President Donald Trump’s social networking site Truth Social, lost more than $300 million last quarter, according to its first earnings report as a public company in stock exchange.
For the three months ended March 31, the company reported a loss of $327.6 million, which it said included $311 million in non-cash expenses related to its merger with a company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., which was essentially a pile of cash looking for a target to merge with. It’s an example of what’s called a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that can offer younger companies faster and easier ways to get their shares traded on an exchange.
A year earlier, Trump Media reported a loss of $210,300.
Trump Media said it took in $770,500 in revenue in the first quarter, largely thanks to its “nascent advertising initiative.” That was down from $1.1 million a year earlier.
“At this early stage of the company’s development, TMTG remains focused on long-term product development rather than quarterly revenues,” Trump Media said in its earnings press release.
Earlier this month, the company fired an auditor who federal regulators recently accused of “massive fraud.” The former president’s media company fired BF Borgers as an independent accounting firm on May 3, delaying the filing of the quarterly earnings report, according to securities filings.
Trump Media had already brought in at least two other auditors – one who resigned in July 2023 and another who was fired by the board in March, just as it was rehiring BF Borgers.
Shares of Trump Media rose 36 cents to $48.74 in after-hours trading. The stock, which trades under the symbol “DJT,” began trading on Nasdaq in March and peaked at nearly $80 in late March.
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