Trump tried to defraud his truth social business partners

[TV and credit cards]

DJT

I hope this lands in the single digits where it belongs toot sweet and dickhead has to just sit there and watch his billions evaporate. It might just be the stroke I'm hoping for. That would be so cool. That's a reality tv show I'd watch.
I wouldn't think the board can let him sell share without making it public.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It is a meme stock. It can go up 50%, down 50%. There are no fundamentals on it, just cult like status. It has gone down 25% today and is still above when it first went live.

Though it appears the down turn could be an acceptance (fleeting?) of the fact this company is a beaten dead dog.

TMTG has historically incurred operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities. For the reasons described below, TMTG expects to continue to incur operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities for the foreseeable future, as it works to expand its user base, attracting more platform partners and advertisers.

This sounds particularly bad (my emphasis).

Since its inception, TMTG has focused on developing Truth Social by enhancing features and user interface rather than relying on traditional performance metrics like average revenue per user, ad impressions and pricing, or active user accounts, including monthly and daily active users. While many industry peers may gather and report on these or similar metrics, given the early development stage of the Truth Social platform, TMTG’s management and board has not relied on any particular key performance metric to make business or operating decisions.

That sounds like accountantese/legalese for "we already reached a plateau for user growth/user growth might be negative and number of posts are declining".

 

[bilby]

If your cash flow is negative, and is expected to remain negative fir the foreseeable future, then you are not running a business, you are indulging in an expensive hobby.

 

[Swammerdami]

... an illegal “pump and dump” scheme wherein some boiler-room sleazeball talks up the value of a stock to investors and then dumps his shares, making a killing while his clients lose their shirts.

Here's a fictional rendition of such a pump-and-dump. Fast forward to 1:20 to see one broker not pushing the pump-dump as ordered.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

If your cash flow is negative, and is expected to remain negative fir the foreseeable future, then you are not running a business, you are indulging in an expensive hobby.

Jeff Bezos says hi.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

If your cash flow is negative, and is expected to remain negative fir the foreseeable future, then you are not running a business, you are indulging in an expensive hobby.

Generally agree, but I don't think there's a bright line between them like the tax code specifies. Hobby income doesn't allow business costs.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

*smacks forehead*

Why didn't I see it all along?! I mean on March 27th, I figured out 7/11's Hot Dog Sparkling Water was an April Fool's thing, why didn't I make the same connection with DJT?

It is so obvious now. It was all a joke! Man did he fool everyone with that one. Hats off to Donald Trump and his April Fool's masterpiece.

 

[marc]

Apparently Truth Social lost $58.2 million last year, and an auditor expressed substantial doubt that it could continue operating.

That pump-and-dump time is fading fast. I know there is a rule that he can't sell yet, but has enough board member allies that they might be able to suspend that rule. If they don't suspend it he might not be able to afford one of his sneakers with the sale value

Trump’s stake in Truth Social falls by $1bn after company reveals $58m loss

Shares in Trump Media dropped 21.5% as auditor discloses ‘substantial doubt’ over company’s ability to continue operating

www.theguardian.com

 

[lpetrich]

Trump Media shares plunge after company reports $58 million loss in 2023 | The Hill
noting
Truth Social parent company lost $58 million in 2023 | The Hill
noting
this SEC filing

From the second link,

The company spent roughly $16 million on operating expenses and $39.4 million on interest expenses, according to the filing.

Trump Media had a strong stock market debut, with shares rising as high as $79.38 on its first day of trading. By Thursday, the last day of trading for the week before the Easter holiday, the company’s stock had settled around $62 a share.

As of Monday morning, shares in Trump Media had fallen to about $53.

Given Trump Media’s lackluster performance in 2023, many financial experts have characterized it as a “meme stock,” driven more by enthusiasm for the former president than by the company’s actual performance.

From the first link,

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Trump’s Truth Social platform, closed with a loss of 21.4 percent Monday. The price of a share dropped to $48.66 by the end of trading Monday, falling $13.30 from its opening price of $59.83

 

[lpetrich]

Trump Media stock tanks as new filing reveals heavy losses, 'greater risks' on Trump's involvement
noting
SEC filing: CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

From the first link,

According to the filing, Trump Media reported sales of just over $4 million as net losses reached nearly $60 million for the full year ending Dec. 31. The company warned it expects losses to continue amid greater profitability challenges.

"TMTG has historically incurred operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities," the filing read.

"TMTG expects to continue to incur operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities for the foreseeable future, as it works to expand its user base, attracting more platform partners and advertisers."

 

[Ford]

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Trump’s Truth Social platform, closed with a loss of 21.4 percent Monday. The price of a share dropped to $48.66 by the end of trading Monday, falling $13.30 from its opening price of $59.83

Thoughts and prayers...

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

Apparently Truth Social lost $58.2 million last year, and an auditor expressed substantial doubt that it could continue operating.

That pump-and-dump time is fading fast. I know there is a rule that he can't sell yet, but has enough board member allies that they might be able to suspend that rule. If they don't suspend it he might not be able to afford one of his sneakers with the sale value

Trump’s stake in Truth Social falls by $1bn after company reveals $58m loss

Shares in Trump Media dropped 21.5% as auditor discloses ‘substantial doubt’ over company’s ability to continue operating

www.theguardian.com

Depending on the circumstances, a $58m loss for a fairly new company could be inconsequential. It’s the microscopic sales number that’s the real eye-opener. Twitter used to generate that amount in half a day.

 

[ZiprHead]

Trump’s net worth plunges $1 billion as his media stock tumbles

Shares of Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group plunged Monday after the company disclosed that it lost more than $58 million and generated very little revenue in 2023. Former President Donald Trump is the company’s majority shareholder, and his net worth tumbled by more than $1 billion Monday as a result.

The figures underscore why some experts warn Trump Media’s multibillion-dollar valuation defies logic and is reminiscent of the meme stock craze.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, Trump Media said it lost $58.2 million in 2023, compared with a profit of $50.5 million in 2022.

The Truth Social owner generated just $4.1 million in revenue, although that was up from $1.5 million in 2022.

Not only that, but revenue tumbled 39% year-over-year in the fourth quarter to just $751,500. That’s not what investors want to see from any start-up, especially one valued at these levels.

Shares of Trump Media tumbled 21% Monday following the new filings, though they are still up nearly 200% so far this year.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Apparently Truth Social lost $58.2 million last year, and an auditor expressed substantial doubt that it could continue operating.

That pump-and-dump time is fading fast. I know there is a rule that he can't sell yet, but has enough board member allies that they might be able to suspend that rule. If they don't suspend it he might not be able to afford one of his sneakers with the sale value

Trump’s stake in Truth Social falls by $1bn after company reveals $58m loss

Shares in Trump Media dropped 21.5% as auditor discloses ‘substantial doubt’ over company’s ability to continue operating

www.theguardian.com

Depending on the circumstances, a $58m loss for a fairly new company could be inconsequential. It’s the microscopic sales number that’s the real eye-opener. Twitter used to generate that amount in half a day.

Indeed. The shares recovered a bit, as we shift back away from fundamentals. The SEC finally was interesting for a few reasons:

1) Amazingly it contained almost no ALL CAPS or things obviously dictated by Trump.
2) $4 million revenue.
3) Talking about exploring expanding the user base, but then considering it a site to protect cancelled people. Which is effectively saying you are standing pat and there is no expansion.

My largest surprise isn't the revenue, it isn't the loss. It was the loss was generally debt driven.

Interest expense increased by approximately $37.39 million, or 1,834.0%, to approximately $39.43 million for twelve months ended December 31, 2023 compared to $2.0 million for the period ended December 31, 2022.

The increase was due primarily to the accreted interest (which adds to the balance) related to TMTG’s convertible promissory notes recorded as of December 31, 2023.

I can get them not making money as ad revenue is tough, especially when you run a site that only has a few million people at most. How did they accrue enough debt that financing it costs that much?! That in itself sounds like a scam. They lost over $37 million last year in interest.

That'd require $148 million in debt at 25% interest ($370 million at 10% interest). How is that possible? Or am I missing how much money it costs to create a boutique site? How much money did Trump give himself, loaned under this company's name, and then he walks away from the debt when this all crashes.

 

[starwater]

So MAGAS cashed out their retirement plans to invest in Donnie's media company to get rich.

 

[Elixir]

So MAGAS cashed out their retirement plans to invest in Donnie's media company to get rich.

They shoulda just sent him the money. Now it's going to be worth a fraction of that value. Boo hoo.

That'd require $148 million in debt at 25% interest ($370 million at 10% interest). How is that possible?

Remember back in the day, when he declared a $900m loss one year, and didn't pay ANY taxes for like, a decade?
He never had $900m to lose, but the way the laws are you can declare a paper loss on stuff you never paid for in the first place.
I don't know how that works or why it is allowed, but it is.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Pump and dump speculators make money on Truth Social

From Reuters
....
Al Shalloudi said he bought at $37 per share and cashed out late last week at $65 per share, clinching a 76% return on his $4,000 investment in just a few days. TMTG's stock closed on Monday at $48.66 after listing on Nasdaq last week in a deal that valued it at just $10 per share.
“It was a no-brainer. You buy the stock, wait for Trump's fan base to hear about it, and enjoy your profit,” Al Shalloudi said.
......

 

[Axulus]

Donald Trump has sued two co-founders of his newly public Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., claiming they set the company up improperly and shouldn’t get any stock in it...The judge said he was “gobsmacked” to learn of Trump’s Florida suit — which he filed instead of bringing counterclaims against the two in Glasscock’s own courtroom — and would consider possible sanctions against the former president in the Delaware case.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-sues-co-founders-truth-190328312.html

 

[bilby]

Donald Trump has sued two co-founders of his newly public Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., claiming they set the company up improperly and shouldn’t get any stock in it...The judge said he was “gobsmacked” to learn of Trump’s Florida suit — which he filed instead of bringing counterclaims against the two in Glasscock’s own courtroom — and would consider possible sanctions against the former president in the Delaware case.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-sues-co-founders-truth-190328312.html

There is a simple solution,
One called 'Honour amongst theives',
So we'll take pity on your souls,
And only cap your knees.

- Madness, Drip Fed Fred.

 

[pood]

I never understood the logic of having any deals with Trump. Is that you hope that the criminal he is, he would make some money for you too? Maybe on the grand scheme of things Trump is not that more criminal than the rest of these people?
It's just is more visible than with others.

Making money in most business partnerships depend upon the success of the business. Making money in a Trump partnership depends on skimming as much as possible off the initial investment and getting out before it crashes.

The expressions on Trump's (and Melanoma's) faces when he actually won the Presidency tell the whole story - Winning was never part of the plan. Like all Trump schemes, the idea was to milk a bunch of marks, lose, and bow out gracefully with bulging pockets.

The parallells with Springtime for Hitler are legion, and the jokes practically write themselves.

Bow out gracefully? Not at all. HIs plan was to lose, and then throw a screaming shit fit about how the election was stolen, just as he did after he lost in 2020. Then milk his marks for four more years until running again in 2020, losing again, shake, stir and repeat. It’s astounding to me how some 70 million voters in the U.S. are such easy marks for such an obvious con man. I used to believe that U.S. stood for United Simpletons, but I no longer believe that because I know it.