The fortunes of the once-thriving social media empire of former US President Donald Trump are rapidly declining. Since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the campaign for the White House on July 21, the former President's share in Truth Social - a platform praised as a conservative alternative to conventional social media—has experienced an astounding $900 million decline in value, according to CNN.
Following Harris's revelation, Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social, saw a large decline in its share price last Thursday during a wider market selloff, bringing the total decline to almost 23%. Just before President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the campaign and his endorsement of Harris on July 19, Trump's ownership share in the corporation was valued at more than $4 billion. But since then, it has dropped to about $3.1 billion.
National and battleground surveys show that Trump and Harris are in a fiercely fought race, which is the context in which this financial downturn is taking place. The company has effectively turned into a gauge for Wall Street's conjecture over Trump's possible comeback to the White House, with Truth Social expected to be important to presidential communications in the event that Trump wins reelection.
Trump Media's stock price had a tiny uptick in June after Vice President Biden's unpopular debate performance, and it experienced another brief jump last month when Trump escaped a Pennsylvania murder attempt. Even with these short-term successes, Truth Social still has trouble making a name for itself in the cutthroat world of social media. The number of unique visitors to the site fell by 38% year over year in June, according to Comscore statistics that TheRighting analyzed. This is the third month in a row of declines.
Trump Media's stock price has fluctuated greatly since going public in late March; analysts have dubbed it a "meme stock," one that is mostly driven by excitement and conjecture rather than sound business principles. As the chairman of the corporation, Trump continues to be the most powerful individual inside it, owning 114.75 million shares and being the most popular user on Truth Social. According to Bloomberg, he is worth USD 5.9 billion.
Despite the latest decline, Trump Media's valuation remains at $5.1 billion. But considering its little income and scant market share in social media, several experts warn that the firm is way overpriced. To put that in context, JetBlue, a business that brought in 2,300 times more revenue last year than Trump Media's meager $4.1 million, has a market value more than double that of Trump Media.
