Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaped a stock bonus of around $1.2 billion for his shares in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG).
Trump was eligible for the bonus amounting to 36 million shares of TMTG, which runs his social media platform Truth Social, because of the consistently elevated share price, Reuters reported. The closing price on Tuesday of $32.56 was far above the requirement for 20 consecutive days of trading over $17.50 necessary for Trump to receive the bonus.
The stock surged during its first official days of trading to well over $60 per share after shareholders approved a merger in March, providing billions in net worth to Trump. Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $4.7 billion as of Monday.
“Assuming the full issuance of the Earnout Shares, President Donald J. Trump will receive 36,000,000 Earnout Shares,” a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing by TMTG states.
The New York Supreme Court’s Trial Division issued a ruling on Feb. 23 that compelled Trump to pay the State of New York $454 million. The former president posted a $175 million bond on April 1 to the State of New York in a civil fraud action commenced by Democratic Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly falsifying his company’s assets in order to get loans for business ventures.
Trump announced he would launch Truth Social in October 2021 to “fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley” after getting banned by most major social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump has consented to hold onto his TMTG shares until at least September, according to Reuters.
“With more than $200 million in the bank and zero debt, Trump Media is fulfilling all its obligations related to the merger and rapidly moving forward with its business plan,” a TMTG spokesperson told Reuters.
TMTG did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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