DJT Stock Has Cratered, Wiping Out More Than $5 Billion in Trump Family Wealth — Barrons.com
By Joe LightTrump Media & Technology Group, the social media and crypto company, is trading at all-time lows as Bitcoin and other tokens keep plunging.The stock, known by its ticker DJT, was down 0.9% at $10.76 in afternoon trading Tuesday. Earlier, it hit an intraday low of $10.32 — the lowest price since DJT's predecessor company announced in October 2021 it had entered a merger agreement to take Trump's social networking company public.President Donald Trump indirectly owns nearly 115 million shares of DJT that are held in a revocable trust in the name of son Don Jr. The son sits on the Trump Media's board. The holdings make the Trump family the company's largest shareholder.DJT stock has fallen nearly 70% this year and 34.6% in the past month.The Trump family's holdings at their peak in mid-May 2024 were worth nearly $6.5 billion. Their value has fallen by more than $5.3 billion since then.DJT stock has repeatedly hit all-time lows over the past few trading days, falling as part of a broader meltdown in the crypto market. In August, Trump Media announced it had acquired $2 billion in Bitcoin and related securities, making it one of the largest "digital asset treasury" companies, similar to Michael Saylor's Strategy, and tying its fate to the crypto market.Since then, the bet has turned sour. Bitcoin prices on Tuesday briefly dipped below $90,000, and despite a modest rebound the asset's gains for the year have been wiped out.The lowest price that DJT had traded at before last week was $11.75 in September 2024, according to Bloomberg data.Since becoming president, Trump has implemented pro-crypto policies, promising to the make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the world." He has also said he'll create a crypto "strategic reserve," ordering the Treasury Department not to sell its tokens seized in enforcement actions and exploring ways for the U.S. to acquire more.The Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped investigations and lawsuits against crypto firms accused of breaking securities laws, which the firms have denied."Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.Trump Media didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.DJT was formed through a merger of Trump Media and special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp., which changed its ticker to DJT in March 2024 after the merger was completed. Since the merger announcement in 2021, the stock has traded as high as $100 in 2022 before sinking.Write to Joe Light at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.