Investor gets jail time for insider trading by Trump Media

Topline

An investor was sentenced to nearly two years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a $22 million insider trading scheme that attempted to take Trump Media & Technology Group public, Bloomberg reported.

Key facts

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Tangent

Shares of Trump Media rose more than 11% to about $30.20 on Wednesday afternoon, partially recovering from a drop Tuesday.

Forbes rating

We estimate Trump’s net worth at $5.5 billion, with much of this amount rooted in his roughly 60% stake in Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social.

Important background

Digital World, a special purpose acquisition company, approved its merger with Trump Media in late March. The combined company trades under the symbol DJT and was valued at nearly $8 billion after its first day of trading on the Nasdaq. Trump Media’s market capitalization stands at $6 billion as of Wednesday, with the company’s shares – which are extremely volatile – continuing to rise after hitting a low in September, when the share price was $12.15 per share. The merger between Digital World and Trump Media faced significant delays as the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the former company of making “material misrepresentations” to investors by failing to disclose and set a plan to take Trump Media public before it would file for an initial public offering. The case was settled for $18 million.

Read more

Trump social media investor gets jail term for insider trading (Bloomberg)

Two brothers plead guilty in Trump case Media Insider Trading (Forbes)