An April SEC filing for Trump Media reveals new details on early investors in Trump’s company - including ex FL AG Pam Bondi who owns 100,000+ shares worth several million dollars and her brother advised on the deal.
A new name in the Trump Media Apr S-1 Registration Statement is lawyer Michael Milkersen with 300,000+ shares (and several hundred thousand founder and ARC shares) making him one of the largest investors. It's not clear how he became involved in the deal.
A new name in the alternative financing group is 'Washington Muse Investments SPC' which has a Cayman Islands address and owns 4,166,666 shares and 1,388,888 warrants, making it one of the top owners - but there is almost no public info on this company.
Funds that bet on a fall were set to profit as the parent of #TruthSocial came under renewed pressure after it registered new shares for a potential sale.
Shares of #Trump’s #socialmedia company plunged on Monday after the company filed to register the potential sale of tens of millions of additional shares.
#Trump Media & Tech stock fell 18%, erasing hundreds of millions from its market value — & putting a dent in Trump’s majority stake, worth >$3B. Since a surge in its 1st days of trading as #TrumpMedia, which lifted the value of the co to ~$8B at one point, the company’s shares have dropped by >50%.
Trump Media was expected to register the potential sale of new shares after the completion of its merger w/ #DWAC, a #ShellCompany known as a #SPAC.
"Watching Trump sell his swindle about migrants, it occurred to me that those suckered by the Trump Media IPO got a better deal, relatively speaking. Those who bought “DJT” shares lost only their shirts. But those who have been snookered into seeing migrants as diseased animals have lost part of their souls." https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/05/trump-swindle-crowd-green-bay-rally/
Trump stands to gain billions… from the merger between TrumpMedia & Tech & the blank-check co [#SPAC] #DWAC, which took the parent company of #TruthSocial public.
But #TrumpMedia almost didn’t make it to the merger after #regulators opened a #securities investigation into it in 2021 & caused the co to burn through cash at an extraordinary rate as it waited…for its IPO.
The situation led TrumpMedia to take emergency #loans, incl’g from an entity called #ESFamilyTrust, which opened an acct w/ #PaxumBank, a small bank registered on the #Caribbean island of #Dominica best known for providing #financial services to the #porn industry.
The trust’s existence has previously been reported…. However, who controlled the acct, how the trust was connected to Paxum, & how the money had been funneled thru it to TrumpMedia was unknown.
Postolnikov, the nephew of #AleksandrSmirnov, an ally of the Russian president, Vladimir #Putin, has not been charged w/a #crime. In response to an email to Postolnikov seeking comment, a lawyer in Dominica representing #PaxumBank threatened legal action for reporting the contents of leaked docs.
…#ESFamilyTrust was established on 18 May 2021, creation papers show. Postolnikov’s “user” access to the acct was “verified” on 30 Nov 2021 by a #PaxumBank mgr in Dominica.
The #ESFamilyTrust was funded for the first time on 2 Dec 2021.
#TrumpMedia then received the #loans:
$2m on 23 Dec 2021, & $6m on 17 Feb 2022.
The loans came in the form of convertible promissory notes, meaning ESFamilyTrust would gain a major stake in #Trump Media because it was offering the #money in exchange for TrumpMedia agreeing to convert the loan principal into “shares of Company Stock”.
…the investment in #TrumpMedia proved huge: while precise figures can only be known by #Trump Media, ESFamilyTrust’s stake is worth $20m to $40m even after the sharp decline of the share price after a poor earnings report.
The #ESFamilyTrust acct also appears to have benefited #Postolnikov personally. As the #criminal investigation into the merger intensified towards the end of last yr, the trust recorded several transfers to Postolnikov w/the subj “Partial Loan Return”.
In total, the doc showed that the trust transferred $4.8m to #Postolnikov’s acct….
The reason for the #ESFamilyTrust’s creation remains unknown. Aside from the #money that went to #TrumpMedia, the trust’s statements show the trust has directly invested money w/only two other companies: $10.8m to Eleven Ventures LLC, a #VC firm, & $1m to Wedbush Securities, a #wealth management firm.
Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation
Last year The Guardian reported on $8 million loans made in 2022 to Trump Media that went through Paxum Bank from ES Family Trust run by Anton Postolnikov, nephew of Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov
Today's story adds new info, including that loans had promissory notes that would put ES Family Trust stake in Trump Media at $20-$40mil
Trump's #lawsuit claims that Litinsky & Moss, who were both contestants on Trump’s reality-TV show “The Apprentice,” mishandled an attempt to take Trump Media public several years ago, allegedly putting the whole project “on ice” for >1½ yrs.
[how much you wanna bet he trying to find a way around the 6 month lock up provision?]
Can we quit saying “A fellow #billionaire helped bail #donaldtrump out”? #Trump is not a fucking billionaire. If you believe otherwise, you are too stupid to have a say in our #democracy.
#GagOrder Against #Trump Is Expanded to Stop Attacks on Judge’s Family
Donald Trump had in recent days targeted the daughter of Juan #Merchan, the judge overseeing his #criminal trial in Manhattan, in blistering social media posts.
Yes, the company went public. No, it is not a financial success—or even a lifeboat.
Debuting on the charts w/a “DJT” ticker, #TrumpMedia saw a 55% surge in valuation right after markets opened.
Huge influx of cash, right? w/Trump holding ~79M shares, equating to 58% of available stock, the #SPAC debut balloons his #NetWorth by nearly $5B; there were ~136M shares outstanding post-merger.
You may be wondering just whence that staggering #valuation arises,then. There are a couple factors at play—namely, rich friends & retail-level suckers.
…As a #ShellCompany established w/the express purpose of gathering #investments & absorbing them into the minimally operational #TrumpMedia, #DWAC curried investments from all manner of private institutions,most significantly #SIG… meaning #JeffYass, the #Republican#megadonor who’s been floated as potential #treasury sec if #Trump is reelected.
#JeffYass’s firm holds a 2% stake in #DWAC &, considering its other assets, can afford some hits as long as #Yass gets to own the libs.
On #TrumpMedia’s end, its current board of directors is hardly lacking in wealth, or loyalty: The CEO is fmr Rep #DevinNunes, & his teammates include #DonaldTrumpJr + fmr #Trump admin members #KashPatel, #RobertLighthizer, & Linda McMahon (as in, yes, the wife of embattled wrestling magnate Vince McMahon).
…that’ll only work if #Trump has confidence in his #platform & doesn’t dump a bunch of #stock, or even give a hint he’s thinking of doing such a thing (like by requesting a waiver), which would scare smaller-scale #investors, piss off #JeffYass, & send #TrumpMedia’s valuation plummeting.
…Does Trump have that kind of confidence in his platform?…he still needs money, fast, & not just because he might not have enough liquid cash to even cover the reduced $175M #bond he needs to pay off by April 4.
…both #TrumpMedia & #DWAC are facing 3 lawsuits, incl’g 1 from 2 #TruthSocial co-founders & fmr Apprentice contestants who allege #Trump purposefully stiffed them on a company stake. That #litigation isn’t going to die down in the midst of a #MemeStock craze.
By the end of Tues, the stock had dropped from its 55% surge down to 16% up from pre-market levels…it hasn’t returned anywhere near close to that peak…. people will keep on trading $DJT. It just isn’t going to help Trump anytime soon.
The classified documents case will make use of a recording which indicates that #Trump had a highly sensitive document which he knew was NOT declassified.
The chain of evidence looks strong and while there is much news media spinning, a court of law is more rigorous environment where focus on fact is primary
Unsurprisingly #Trump put very little of his own money in the venture. He relied on other #garchs who wanted to curry favor with him to get the company afloat.
Now #DonaldTrump will rely on his base to prop up the stock until he can cash out