Donald Trump’s social media company took a nose dive once it went public last month.
Now, its CEO, Devin Nunes, reportedly wants Wall Street to get involved to try and stanch the bleeding.
According to a new report from Forbes: “... Nunes, former Republican congressman and CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, has recently gone on the offensive, blaming Wall Street short sellers engaged in ‘potential market manipulation.’ According to Nunes, they’re not only hurting Trump and his inner circle but everyday shareholders. Now, he’s looking for someone to step in and come to the company’s rescue, asking everyone from Nasdaq to Congress to his own retail shareholders to take action against these short sellers.”
But, the report added, “Forbes spoke to five securities lawyers about TMTG’s complaints of illegal short selling and the actions the company has taken in response. All were skeptical that illegal naked short selling—if it’s happening at all—is the reason for the stock’s drop in price, and they dismissed the idea that the company could stem short selling in general.”
It is true, though, that a band of mostly amateur Wall Street investors have collectively made tens of millions of dollars over the past month by betting that the stock price of his social media business — Truth Social — will keep dropping despite massive buying by Trump loyalists and wild swings that often mirror the candidate’s latest polls, court trials and outbursts on Truth Social itself.
“This company makes no money. ... It makes no sense,” said Boise, Idaho, ad executive Elle Stange, who estimates she’s made $1,300 betting against Trump Media & Technology stock, recently told The Associated Press. “He’s not as great a businessman as he thinks. A lot of his businesses go belly up, quickly.”
As of Friday’s close, a month since Trump Media’s initial public offering sent its stock to $66.22, it has dropped to $41.54. An AP analysis of data from research firms FactSet and S3 Partners shows that investors using puts and “short selling” have paper profits so far of at least $200 million, not including the costs of puts, which vary from trade to trade.
Joe Biden recently made a crack over the falling stock price.
“I have to say, if Trump’s stock in the Truth Social, his company, drops any lower, he might do better under my tax plan that his,” Biden said to laughs from the friendly crowd.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
