Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at 40 Wall Street after his court hearing to determine the date of his trial for allegedly concealing secret money payments related to extramarital affairs in New York on March 25, 2024.
Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Images
Donald Trump is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in legal penalties, his presidential campaign is facing a cash flow crisis and his companies have been posting operating losses for years.
But on Monday afternoon, Trump was richer than he has ever been.
Trump’s net worth has jumped more than $4 billion in recent days to about $6.5 billion, according to Bloomberg, which lists the world’s 500 richest people.
The windfall is the result of a merger approved Friday between Trump’s social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, and a shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., known as DWAC.
Trump owns nearly 80 million shares, or about 58 percent, of Trump Media, which operates his social media site Truth Social. At DWAC’s Monday closing price $49.95 per shareTrump’s shares were worth $4 billion on paper.
The newly merged social media company announced it would begin trading on Tuesday under the ticker symbol DJT.
DWAC’s stock price soared 35% on Monday after a New York appeals court reduced the amount of cash the former president needed for bail, saving him from having to to immediately pay a fine of $454 million for civil fraud.
As of Monday morning, Trump appeared unable to provide more than $550 million to secure a bond that would prevent the state from seizing his real estate assets.
Shortly after 10 a.m., an appeals court ruled that Trump only had to post $175 million bail. The court also suspended the deadline for the judgment for 10 days.
Trump says he has the cash to cover that bond.
As a result of the media merger and bond adjustment, Trump, 77, was included in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Monday for the first time in his life, according to the outlet.
It is unclear, however, whether his wealth will remain as high. Trump is barred from selling his DWAC stock for six months, and the stock price has a volatile history.
Trump Media generated less than $3.5 million in revenue during the first nine months of 2023, while posting a net loss of $49 million during the same period.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Friday described Trump’s media company as a meme stock largely dependent on one man.
Bloomberg said its estimate of Trump’s net worth was based on ethics disclosures required for presidential candidates, public records related to major real estate assets and staff reports.
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