Former President Donald Trump has lost his place on a popular list of the world's richest people following a recent drop in stock value for his social media company and ongoing legal battles.
Stock prices for Trump Media & Technology Group—the company behind the former president's Truth Social platform—soared late last month following a merger with existing shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC). Value has plummeted on the NASDAQ index since, falling from a high of around $71 per share on March 27 to about $37 per share as of Tuesday.
Trump's net worth briefly more than doubled after Trump Media completed its merger with DWAC last month, placing him on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index—a ranking of the 500 richest people in the world—for the first time ever, with an estimated net worth of about $6.5 billion.
However, the former president's appearance on the list was short-lived. As of Tuesday evening, Bloomberg ranked Trump's net worth at approximately $4.8 billion, which still makes Trump the world's 652nd richest person. The last person listed on Tuesday's Billionaire Index—media heiress Margaretta Taylor—has an estimated net worth of $5.82 billion.
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump's office via email on Tuesday.
Despite the dramatic drop in the former president's wealth, his estimated net worth is still far higher than it was prior to the DWAC merger, when it reportedly peaked at $3.1 billion.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings released on April 1 revealed that Trump Media had lost over $58 million last year, while taking in only $4.1 million in revenue. Many experts have argued that the stock value is hugely overinflated, likely due in part to enthusiastic investments from Trump supporters.
Trump touted the stock in a post to Truth Social on Thursday, while praising the social media platform for having "$200 million in cash and zero debt" and suggesting that it was headed for success because his follower count was "growing fast."
Michael Klausner, law professor at Stanford Law School, suggested in comments to Newsweek on Monday that Trump's post could be considered "pumping," an illegal violation of SEC regulations.
Trump has been struggling to pay his legal fees despite his massive estimated net worth. In addition to facing 88 felony counts across four separate criminal cases, the former president has recently lost multiple civil judgments.
After he was found liable for committing business fraud in New York and hit with a more than $450 million judgment, lawyers for the ex-president said that he did not have the cash to pay it or the full amount of a bond required to launch an appeal, which is slightly higher.
Although an appeals court eventually reduced the required bond amount to $175 million, the bond was later rejected after it was posted due to questions about the financial backing of the California-based company that stepped up for Trump.
Speculation has been mounting that New York Attorney General Letitia James may soon move to take ownership of some of Trump's signature real estate holdings if the bond issue is not quickly resolved and he is unable to pay the judgment.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
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