'DJT' stock tumbles as Trump and many others file for the sale of their shares

By Tomi Kilgore

Total number of shares Trump Media files for the sale of is more than triple the public float

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. took a deep dive Monday, after the social-media company filed for the sale of a large amount of shares so its stockholders, including Donald J. Trump, could cash in.

The company's (DJT) S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission includes the potential sale of up to 114,750,000 shares held by the former president.

That amount includes the 78,750,000 common shares Trump received after the merger with the special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, Digital World Acquisition closed on March 25. It also includes 36 million in "earnout shares," which may be issued to Trump depending on how the stock performs over the next three years.

But even with the S-1 filing, Trump's shareholdings are subject to a lockup period, which means they can't be sold until Sept. 25.

The stock, whose ticker symbol matches the initials of the former president who is the presumptive Republican nominee in this November's presidential election, sank 17.3% in afternoon trading, putting it on track for the lowest close since Jan. 19. The stock has now plunged 46% since March 25 and has plummeted 59.3% since it closed at a postmerger high of $66.22 on March 27.

The stock's selloff also comes on the day that the first criminal trial against Trump is set to begin, as the former president faces charges that he tried to cover up hush-money payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels to keep details of a purported sexual encounter from becoming known to voters ahead of the 2016 election, in which Trump upset Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Read: Trump's 'DJT' stock dives to lowest close since Ron DeSantis dropped out

The list of other selling stockholders includes Trump associates and Wall Street big wigs:

Pam Bondi, who is currently a partner at government lobbying firm Ballard Partners, and was Florida's Attorney General from 2011 to 2019 and has been a well-known Trump supporter, has filed for the sale of up to 106,250 shares, valued at about $2.9 million at current prices.Trump Media Chief Executive Devin Nunes, a Trump-aligned former Republican congressman, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump, filed for the sale of 115,000 shares currently valued at about $3.1 million.Boaz Weinstein, founder of Wall Street investment adviser Saba Capital Management L.P., has filed for the sale of 534 shares, while Saba Capital has filed for the sale of 194,901 shares, with the total valued at $5.3 million.Investment bank EF Hutton LLC filed to sell 86,719 shares, valued at $2.3 million.

The list of selling stockholders starts on Page 127 of the S-1 filing.

In total, the S-1 is for the issuance of up to 21.5 million new common shares, and for the sale from time to time of up to 146.1 million shares held by stockholders. The company would not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by stockholders.

"The number of shares of common stock being offered for resale in this prospectus exceeds the number of shares of common stock constituting our public float," the company said in an S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The resale of stock represents about 256% of the current public float, or shares currently available for the public to trade, and about 107% of the outstanding shares as of Jan. 31.

The stock has tumbled 56.5% in April, which means the shares currently owned by Trump, pre-earnout shares, have lost $2.76 billion in value this month. The shares he holds are now valued at about $2.1 billion.

-Tomi Kilgore

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04-15-24 1457ET

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