# How Can Truth Social be worth $6 Billion? {Trump Media & Technology (DJT)} **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 22, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202 "2024-03-22T13:23:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/141 "2024-04-02T18:11:56Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > You are assuming the Republicans are in lock-step,over Trump. They arwn’t. He had lots of defectors who voted against him last time. Ten Republicans jumped ship and voted for his second impeachment. How many of those ran for re-election? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/142 "2024-04-02T18:14:18Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I can’t imagine Senate Republicans refusing to go along with a demand that they dump the filibuster to pass his agenda. Yep, a major Trump win puts paid to any notion of “politics as usual”. The “moderate” GOP is already running scared of crossing Trump, so there’s no way a non-MAGA would do that after a Trump win. And even if one finally does have an irresistible attack of common sense, there will be enough MAGAts in Congress to oust that person from office, since they’ve already popped the seal on that issue. They’ll toe the line, or end up swinging from a rope (and maybe not metaphorically, either). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/143 "2024-04-02T18:20:51Z")
“Slightly less than five percent of them voted to kinda-sorta hold him responsible when he tried to overthrow the government on national TV” isn’t a super good example of the party not being in lockstep. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/144 "2024-04-02T18:31:42Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Are Trump’s shares voting shares? I don’t think they are. I read they were class B stock, which doesn’t get to vote. However, I’m not an expert and could be wrong here. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/145 "2024-04-02T19:59:45Z")
Get this > **[Trump Sues Co-Founders of Truth Social Media Company Over Shares](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/trump-sues-co-founders-of-truth-social-media-company-over-shares)** > > Donald Trump has ramped up a battle over shares in his newly public Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. with a lawsuit against his co-founders, claiming they violated an agreement setting up the social media company and shouldn’t get any stock... ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/146 "2024-04-02T20:02:45Z")
Beingn litigious will do wonders for the share price. Expect another drop. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/147 "2024-04-02T20:06:40Z")
And now there’s a brawl, and a counter-brawl, between DJT and Trump Media co-founders: > **[Trump Sues Co-Founders of Truth Social Media Company Over Shares](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-sues-co-founders-truth-190328312.html)** > > (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump has ramped up a battle over shares in his newly public Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. with a lawsuit against his co-founders, claiming they violated an agreement setting up the social media company and shouldn’t... It looks like Trump may be [wait for it] trying to screw two who hold a collective 8.6% of outstanding shares _out of_ their shares for … reasons. They were suing him. He’s suing them in another venue. Apparently, Trump is accusing the two of forming and executing the company about as well as Rudy Giuliani executed a press conference at Four Seasons. Wow. I did NOT see that coming. /s This suit against Trump is now in the capable hands of Delaware Judge, Sam Glasscock III. No. I did not make up that name. Also, that name did NOT make me chuckle. I felt it important to affirmatively make that clear. NINJA’d ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/148 "2024-04-02T21:37:31Z")
I wonder how many folks have accounts on Trooth Social just o watch Trump’s antics, and what would happen if all of those people just dropped their accounts? And how much advertising money for the election Trump’s gonna pour into TS? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/149 "2024-04-02T21:39:00Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I wonder how many folks have accounts on Trooth Social just o watch Trump’s antics Doubtless a zillion reporters from all sides have accounts there to watch his antics. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/150 "2024-04-02T21:39:34Z")
If Trump had diversified and invested in law firms when he started out, he would be a real billionaire today. All that money transferred legally from sham real-estate into law firms via his constant litigation. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/151 "2024-04-02T21:54:48Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > They were suing him. He’s suing them in another venue. It’s just part of the Trump strategy: When you do something shitty to another person, and they sue you… SUE THEM BACK! Tie them up in court and waste as much of their money as possible until they quit. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/152 "2024-04-02T22:21:23Z")
That was a workable plan before he was broke. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/153 "2024-04-03T14:43:25Z")
Still is as long as you don’t pay your lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/154 "2024-04-03T15:47:07Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I wonder how many folks have accounts on Trooth Social just o watch Trump’s antics You don’t need an account to watch him publicly tell the world he is a moron. I used to look to see what he was posting but it has now become such a recycled shit-show, it isn’t worth viewing (not that it was before, but…). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/155 "2024-04-03T16:16:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Nothing stopped him from o[wning the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-international-hotel-washington-report-exposes-gaping-corruption-loopholes-ncna1286258). And he never put his assets in a blind trust. If the House should convert to Democratic before 2025, I’d like to see Congress quickly pass some emoluments and financial deconfliction laws for the Executive. If I was a Reagan/Haley Republican, serving in the House, I’d be thinking pretty strategically about when to leave the government. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/156 "2024-04-03T16:50:24Z")
An early investor in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) pleads guilty to insider trading: > **[Investor in company that took Trump Media public pleads guilty to insider...](https://news.yahoo.com/tech/investor-company-took-trump-media-144657224.html)** > > An early investor in the company that took former U.S. President Donald Trump's media business public pleaded guilty in Manhattan on Wednesday to a federal insider trading charge. Gerald Shvartsman pleaded guilty at a hearing before U.S. District... > An early investor in the company that took former U.S. President Donald Trump’s media business public pleaded guilty in Manhattan on Wednesday to a federal insider trading charge. > Gerald Shvartsman pleaded guilty at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman. Three were charged. They’re still pursuing the other two. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/157 "2024-04-03T17:13:24Z")
The title of this Guardian article really says it all: [Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/03/trump-media-es-family-trust-2022-loans) The article also quotes an unnamed Trump lawyer threatening the Guardian with a lawsuit if they publish any of this factual information. Good luck with that buddy - enjoy your upcoming disbarment proceedings. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/158 "2024-04-03T17:24:53Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The article also quotes an unnamed Trump lawyer threatening the Guardian with a lawsuit if they publish any of this factual information. Good luck with that buddy - enjoy your upcoming disbarment proceedings. True, whomever the lawyer is, the odds are good that he or she will be facing disbarment proceedings soon given the high percentage of Trump-associated lawyers doing so at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/159 "2024-04-03T17:41:04Z")
How can Truth Social be worth $6 billion? To answer that, you need a theory of stock market valuation. Matt Levine lays out the answer. 1. Stock equity has existed for hundreds of years. Reliable, audited, and governmentally supervised financial statements have not, and the spreadsheet was invented in the early 1980s. So stock valuation was, “a psychological gambling game.” 2. In the late 1930s, financial statements became more available and reliable; meaningful present value calculations became conceivable. > Later, the development of leveraged buyout technology made it possible for you to _realize_ the value of a company’s cash flows: If your fundamental analysis of a company said that it was worth more than its stock price, you could buy all the stock and take the cash flows for yourself. The result is that it was possible to _do_ fundamental analysis, and there was a clear plausible _link_ between that fundamental analysis and the value of the stock. 1. So far so good. About three years ago a new wrinkle appeared. Bolding added, italics from original: > But eventually — like, three years ago? — people realized that there was a flaw in that reasoning. While the value of a company’s cash flows probably _does_ set a **real floor** under its stock price — if the stock is worth less than the cash flows, someone can buy the company and take the cash flows — **it does not put a _ceiling_ on the price**. If the stock has cash flows worth $10, and you want to pay $20 for it, I can’t stop you, and I cannot directly monetize the difference: I can’t, like, sell all the stock for $20 and then buy it back for $10; I can’t force the price down to the fundamental value. If everyone just collectively decides to pay $20 for a thing with cash flows of $10, or $0, then it’s worth $20, isn’t it? There is no law of nature requiring that a stock’s price has to equal the present value of its future cash flows, or even that it has to equal the market’s collective _estimate_ of its future cash flows. That’s just a matter of tradition, and the tradition is only like 80 years old. But the tradition could always change. Now maybe stocks will trade based on … I don’t know, something else, collective attention, online sentiment, the desire to “outwit the crowd.” Stocks can once again be pure tokens in a psychological gambling game. Ouch. The present value of future dividends (or earnings or free cash flow, depending upon how you want to calculate this - read Damodaran) puts a soft floor on the value of the stock. But there is no soft ceiling. You can short DJT all you want, but there’s no mechanism that says the stock can nonetheless go to the moon if buyers love it that much. There _is_ a mechanism that would keep the market cap from falling much below, say, $50 million. Somebody could organize a buyout. So **market rationality is one-sided in terms of price**. :😭:. :😭:. :😭: If buying Gamestop gives you feels, hey, there’s nothing irrational about that. Levine was amused by the memestock phenomenon, but reported that he would freak out if the ridiculous prices lasted for a month. They did. Gamestop has since deflated. But its overvaluation (by financial metrics) wasn’t an overnight thing. Dogecoin is worth $7 billion. > And maybe there will be a first-year M.B.A. course in Meme Stock Analysis. So that’s how Truth Social can be worth $6 or $12 billion, but any valuation less than $50 million today could arguably be corrected. Gifted article, valid for 7 days: [https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-01/trump-media-s-business-doesn-t-matter?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcxMjE2NTM4NywiZXhwIjoxNzEyNzcwMTg3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTQjlaVTREV0xVNjgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI3RUU0QUE0NTMyMEM0Mjk0QTBDQTNBODJERUQyQ0YyOSJ9.ZAU9uv87SwbvTDAbhvbqj497plabhcTlTbjTo7lRok8](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-01/trump-media-s-business-doesn-t-matter?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcxMjE2NTM4NywiZXhwIjoxNzEyNzcwMTg3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTQjlaVTREV0xVNjgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI3RUU0QUE0NTMyMEM0Mjk0QTBDQTNBODJERUQyQ0YyOSJ9.ZAU9uv87SwbvTDAbhvbqj497plabhcTlTbjTo7lRok8) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202/160 "2024-04-03T17:56:11Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The title of this Guardian article really says it all: > > [Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/03/trump-media-es-family-trust-2022-loans) That whole thing is just, fractally sketchy. Every level of detail you look at, and it’s just as sketchy as the whole thing. Like, for example the bank that facilitated this deal is primarily used by porn websites. And it’s not licensed for doing banking with US customers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-truth-social-be-worth-6-billion-trump-media-technology-djt/999202.md?page=9)