Donald Trump’s Net Worth Hits $6.5 Billion, Enters 500 Richest People List

Republican presidential hopeful and former President Donald Trump celebrates his victory at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H., on Jan. 23, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump has entered Bloomberg’s list of top 500 global billionaires after his stake in Truth Social was valued at nearly $4 billion.

Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) went public following its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC). It will trade under the ticker symbol DJT on NASDAQ starting Tuesday. President Trump holds 78.75 million shares in the entity. DWAC closed Monday at $49.95, which makes the former president’s stake in the merged company worth $3.9 billion. According to Bloomberg, the deal pushes President Trump’s net worth to $6.5 billion, enabling him to join the list of wealthiest 500 people in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

President Trump’s assets are spread across a wide variety of liquid and illiquid instruments. In a March 22 Truth Social post, the former president said he currently has almost $500 million in cash.

A Reuters analysis of court filings and federal financial disclosures showed that President Trump reported at least $537 million in revenues in 2022 from hotels and golf courses; $61.1 million from his stake in buildings; $30.4 million in royalties and licensing fees; and $26.5 million in managing fees. His Washington hotel netted him $268.7 million that year, including a profit made through selling a property.

President Trump’s properties were valued at $4.3 billion, the outlet said citing a June 2021 financial statement. Total loans and liabilities from the properties came in at $439.2 million.

President Trump’s net worth increase comes as he has to fulfill a multi-million bond requirement in the New York civil case that accuses him of inflating the value of his assets. He was initially required to pay $464 million.

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However, a court later ruled he could avoid paying $464 million if he puts up $175 million in 10 days, which he said he’ll do “very quickly.” Once he makes the payment, New York state will not be able to seize his assets as the former president appeals the judgment.

Even though President Trump gains billions from the TMTG merger, he won’t be able to cash in on the stock immediately. Under the deal’s terms, he is subject to a lock-up period of six months, during which time he is prohibited from selling his stake.

The only way out of the lockup period is if DWAC gives a waiver. The lockup period exists to prevent major shareholders from cashing out immediately after merging, which will crash stock prices. Shareholders are also prohibited from offering shares as collateral to raise loans during the lockup period.

A potential way to benefit from the stake could be by transferring shares to a trust and then using the trust to pledge the stock and raise a loan. Another way could be by transferring shares to an immediate family member.

TMTG Deal

The TMTG merger was completed after two years of struggle. DWAC and TMTG announced a merger in 2021. Since then, DWAC faced investigations by the Justice Department, agreed to an $18 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over inaccurate disclosures, removed its chief executive, and made changes to its board.

With the merger’s completion, TMTG was set to have access to $290 million in funds held by DWAC as well as an extra $1 billion that other investors have committed to the combined firm.

TMTG CEO Devin Nunes said, “As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors. We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors. As we mark this milestone, I want to particularly thank Eric Swider for his unflagging dedication to our deal and our cause.”

Post-merger, Eric Swider, former CEO of Digital World, became the new TMTG director. He called the merger “a pivotal moment not only for DWAC and TMTG as a combined entity but for the broader media and technology landscape.”

When it starts trading at NASDAQ, TMTG will have a valuation of around $5.5 billion, which has raised eyebrows. Some experts claim it is too pricey given the company’s sparse revenues. For the three months ending Sept. 30, 2023, TMTG suffered a net loss of $26 million and only generated revenues of around $1 million.

“This is a stock where the market price is divorced from fundamental value,” University of Florida professor Jay Ritter told USA Today. He estimated that the stock can only be valued at $2 and expects trading in the shares to be volatile.

DJT shares surged during trading on Tuesday. As of 10:27 a.m. ET, it was trading at $70.28, up more than 40 percent from Monday’s closing of $49.95.

The $70+ share value puts TMTG’s market capitalization at nearly $10 billion. Trading in DJT was halted temporarily after the opening bell due to high volatility.

DJT was previously used as a ticker symbol in 1995 when President Trump’s Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts became public.

Meanwhile, President Trump is leading President Joe Biden in polls for the 2024 race. He has a 3 percentage point lead over his Democrat rival in Michigan, according to a Mitchell-MIRS poll released Friday.

“Trump has done a much better job of solidifying his base where he is getting 90 percent of the Republican vote with only 2 percent going to Biden. Biden on the other hand is only getting 84 percent of his base and more importantly, he is faced with the embarrassing situation of giving away 12 percent of his vote to former President Trump,” the poll said.