Former President Donald Trump‘s Truth Social has lost around $73 million since its creation almost two years ago, according to a new filing with the US SEC.
The company lost $50m in 2022 and a further $23m in the first half of 2022. Net sales over the total period were $3.7m, according to the filing by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG)’s SPAC partner Digital World Acquisition Corp, a blank cheque company that is in the process of acquiring the parent group.
The numbers are the first time that any internal financial details on the social platform have been shared publicly.
The filing added that that “TMTG’s independent registered public accounting firm has indicated that TMTG’s financial condition raises substantial doubt as to its ability to continue as a going concern,” according to the filing and that “as of June 30, 2023, and December 31, 2022, management has substantial doubt that TMTG will have sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due, including liabilities related to promissory notes previously issued by TMTG.”
It added: “TMTG believes that it may be difficult to raise additional funds through traditional financing sources in the absence of material progress toward completing its merger with Digital World.”
TMTG was valued at $875 million when the merger with DWAC was first announced in late 2021, although the former president’s controlling stake is valued at between $5-$25 million in the latest figures. In September, DWAC shareholders passed a last-minute vote to defer the takeover deadline for a further year, just days ahead of a liquidation deadline that would have seen the takeover cancelled and around $300m returned to shareholders.
Trump announced his new social media platform in late 2021, framing it as a competitor to big tech platforms like Facebook and Twitter following his own high-profile struggles with the established platforms
So far, however, the move does not appear to have paid off in terms of either profit or followers – Trump currently has around six million followers on Truth Social compared to almost 90m on his Twitter account, which was reinstated following Elon Musk’s takeover of the tech firm.
The latest filing with the SEC also features an entire section titled “Risks Related to our Chairman President Donald J. Trump,” citing his ongoing legal challenges, the companies he owned that have filed for bankruptcy (like his Atlantic City casino), and the companies that licensed his name (like Trump Vodka and Trump Shuttle) which subsequently went out of business.
