Trump Media flags Nasdaq on possible short-selling of shares

Former President Donald Trump’s newly public Trump Media & Technology company may be the target of market manipulation, CEO Devin Nunes alleged in a letter to Nasdaq CEO Adena Friendman on Friday.   

Shares of the stock, which are listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker D-J-T, have seen extreme swings since going public on March 26. 

“Reports indicate that, as of April 3, 2024, DJT was ‘by far’ ‘the most expensive U.S. stock to short,’ meaning that brokers have a significant financial incentive to lend non-existent shares. Data made available to us indicate that just four market participants have been responsible for over 60% of the extraordinary volume of DJT shares traded:  Citadel Securities, VIRTU Americas, G1 Execution Services, and Jane Street Capital,” wrote Nunes in a letter disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Citadel is run by billionaire hedge fund investor Ken Griffin. 

TRUMP MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY GROUP CEO LETTER TO NASDAQ: READ HERE

Short selling allows an investor to profit when a stock goes down in value by borrowing against the purchase and buying it at a cheaper price. 

Citadel, in a statement to FOX Business, said:

“Devin Nunes is the proverbial loser who tries to blame “naked short selling” for his falling stock price. Nunes is exactly the type of person Donald Trump would have fired on the Apprentice. If he worked for Citadel Securities, we would fire him, as ability and integrity are at the center of everything we do.”

FOX Business inquiries to the Nasdaq, VIRTU and Jane Street Capital were not immediately returned. FINRA, which monitors markets and oversees broker-dealers, declined to comment. 

Since the IPO, DJT shares have traded as high as $79 per share, giving the former president a brief paper net worth over $9 billion for the stock. That has dipped to about $3 billion as of Friday. 

WHAT IS A SHORT SELLER?

The shares have earned membership in the meme club, joining other actively traded stocks such as AMC and GameStop that are popular on social media chats such as Reddit. Often the shares see big daily swings without any particular news.

These stocks are also more favored by retail traders vs. big institutions, according to market experts.  

WILL GAMESTOP SURVIVE? CO-FOUNDER WEIGHS IN

The company itself has made a number of moves since its debut. This week, it announced plans to start a livestream service for Truth Social, operated by the parent company. Also, the company disclosed it may sell more stock, a potential 146 million shares of which over 114 million are owned by Trump, according to an SEC Filing. 

TRUMP SHARES TUMBLE ON PLANS TO MAYBE SELL MORE SHARES

Unlike some of the other meme stocks, DJT has not generated any revenue as a newly formed company, as noted in its IPO prospectus, and it lost over $58 million in 2023, as detailed in its Annual Report.

TRUMP ON TRIAL: LIVE UPDATES HERE

The allegations come as Trump is on trial in New York City for hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Jury selection is currently underway. 

Nunes served as a Republican representative for the state of California through 2022.

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