Trump Media insiders sell nearly 11 million shares after lock-up period expires
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- A major Trump Media shareholder has sold nearly all of its company shares, an SEC filing showed.
- The seller is United Atlantic Ventures, the investment partnership of two former "Apprentice" contestants.
- It's the first known sale of Trump Media shares following a September 19 lock-up expiry.
Trump Media shareholder United Atlantic Ventures has sold nearly all of its stake in the company, amounting to nearly 11 million shares. The move comes after the company's lock-up agreement expired on September 19.
According to a Thursday regulatory filing, UAV now holds just 100 shares in the Truth Social parent company. It's an investing collaboration between Andrew Litinsky and Wes Moss, who were former contestants on Donald Trump's "Apprentice" reality show.
The sale is the first known case of company insiders ditching Trump Media shares now that restrictions have expired.
UAV initially held 7.5 million DJT shares as of March 25, the day the company completed a merger with blank-check company Digital World Acquisition Corp. A separate SEC filing shows that it was issued an additional 3.4 million shares on September 5.
Given how volatile the Trump Media stock is, UAV may have received anywhere between $128 million and $170 million for its sale.
After Litinsky and Moss helped Trump create the social media organization in 2021, their relationship with the presidential hopeful deteriorated. The pair has gone to court against Trump Media, accusing it of diluting their shares, and the company later fired back with its own lawsuit.
For his part, Trump has resolved to not sell any of his shares, which amount to 56% of the company. Before he voiced this commitment earlier in the month, some speculated that the former president may want to unload his holdings to gross billions in profit — especially as he continues to face massive legal fees from past court cases.
If Trump did decide to cash in on his shares, he'd rake in less than when the firm first went public. Since its March peak, DJT has dropped more than 78%. Many analysts consider it a meme stock, given that the firm's fundamentals do not justify its previous highs.