Trump Media shares fall to new low as Donald Trump owns shares

Trump Media & Technology Group the stock is in free fall (again).

After the block period of Donald Trump’s actions ended on fridayshares of Trump Media — the company that owns the former president’s social media site, Truth Social — fell to new lows. Shares were down 7%, trading at $12.56 each Monday morning.

This pushed the company’s market cap to $2.5 billion, a drop of nearly 80% from high flying days following its Nasdaq debut on March 26.

Despite the speculation, Trump himself said earlier this month that he has “absolutely” no plans to abandon his stake in the company — even though he made more than $2 billion from a potential stock sale.

“The reason I built it is because I don’t want to silence my voice,” Trump said during a news conference at his golf course near Los Angeles on September 13. “A lot of people think I’m going to sell my stock, you know, it’s worth billions of dollars, but I don’t want to sell my stock. I don’t need money.”

Trump owns 114.75 million shares of Trump Media, or about 60% of the company’s outstanding shares. One regulatory file in June, Trump Media cited Trump’s divestment from the company as one of the main risks to its business.

Even if Trump continues to hold his shares, however, stocks have considerably depreciated in recent weeks, inclusive after his debate performance against Vice President Kamala Harris.

That’s because much of the company’s success is tied to the former president’s personal and political wealth. The company itself warned in filings that “adverse reactions to publicity regarding (Trump) or the loss of his services could adversely affect TMTG’s revenues and results of operations.”

As the presidential election nears, stocks could continue to face challenges. John Rekenthaler, vice president of research at Morningstar (MORNING), previously told Quartz that he “would expect the stock to go to zero or something close to it if (Trump) were to lose the election.”