Trump sues Truth Social co-founders, claims they should lose stock

Donald Trump has sued two of his fellow co-founders of his new public company Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (TMTG), alleging that because they improperly formed the company, they were not entitled to any shares in it.

The lawsuit filed late last month in Florida state court claims that Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss — who were both contestants on Trump’s NBC reality series “The Apprentice” — violated a agreement on the creation of TMTG and do not deserve their 8.6% stake.

Their shares are currently valued at $606 million, according to Bloomberg.

The duo also made a series of costly mistakes “that caused significant damage to TMTG and a decline in its merger partner’s stock price,” according to the lawsuit.

After the brilliant debut on the stock market of TMTG under the initials of the ex-president “DJT”, the stock climbed to more than 70 dollars before closing at around 66 dollars per share on March 27. So far this week, however, prices have plunged and the company closed at $51.60 on March 27. Tuesday.

Trump blamed Moss and Litinsky during the trial for the company’s losses, where he alleged they “failed spectacularly at every turn,” including when they “failed to establish governance “and then “started constantly trying to thwart” the SPAC. engage in the fight for their respective issues.

“This was a phenomenal opportunity for Moss and Litinsky,” the lawsuit notes, adding that they were “both following in the footsteps of President Trump.”

The stock fell 21% on Monday alone after TMTG revealed in a securities filing that it suffered a $58 million loss in 2023 and needed the check company’s money in Trump’s whitewash to keep running — a performance that fueled skepticism about his rollercoaster IPO. launch that led experts to dub it another “meme stock” like AMC and GameStop.

Trump’s net worth surged and fell along with TMTG’s stock price, which ultimately fell and caused the presumptive Republican nominee’s fortune to soar 14 percent, to $6.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Trump owns 57% of the company, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained by Bloomberg, with his stake now worth $4.02 billion on paper.

Trump’s suit is just the latest in his legal battle with Moss and Litinsky, who were credited with pioneering the idea of ​​a copycat Twitter platform called Truth Social in early 2021 after Trump lost his bid for the White House and was banned from the now-famous social media site. like X following the Capitol riot.

Litinsky and Moss filed their own suit against the former president in Delaware Chancery Court over their promised stake in the social media company.

Despite its crisis, TMTG currently has a market capitalization of around $6.4 billion.

Trump is unable to sell any of his 57% stock in the company due to a six-month lock-up period related to his civil fraud case in New York.

Delaware Judge Sam Glasscock III declined to expedite the trial of Litinsky and Moss after Trump’s lawyers agreed to avoid diminishing the value of their shares, Bloomberg reported.

But at a hearing Monday, the two men told the judge they plan to seek an order barring Trump’s subsequent trial in Florida from continuing while they argue allegations that Trump planned to target their participation from the beginning.

Glasscock told the court he was “stunned” to learn of Trump’s Florida lawsuit, which he filed instead of filing counterclaims against the two men in Trump’s own courtroom. Glasscock, according to Bloomberg. He is therefore considering possible sanctions against the former president in the Delaware affair.

The Post requested comments from Trump, Litinsky and Moss.