Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, is began its long-delayed journey as a public company at Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”

The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility. Trump Media shares have since stabilized at around $70, marking a 40% increase from Monday’s close.

Wall Street is assigning Trump Media an eye-popping valuation of around $13 billion — a price tag that experts warn is untethered to reality.

The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.

“This is a very unusual situation. The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.

  • ikidd@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Follow the money. I guarantee this is Russian financing being done at a remove.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      guarantee this is Russian financing

      Fair more likely it’s Saudi or Israeli money, given how Russians have been cut off from the SWIFT banking system through sanctions.

    • aidan@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Russian financing how? They can’t access banks, I doubt they’re wasting precious foreign currency on this.

      • Rob T Firefly@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Just because they’re not allowed to access banks doesn’t mean they can’t.

        Lots of people, organizations, and even governments do all sorts of crimes even though they’re really not supposed to. Conceptually speaking, money laundering is a fairly simple crime to do and, like so many crimes, it becomes easier to get away with the more powerful you are.

        • aidan@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Every dollar you launder still has a risk of being caught, like I said, they have more pressing things to spend foreign currency on.

          • Kaefor@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            More pressing than possibly owning the next American president? No, they don’t.

            • aidan@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              His bond was reduced, he doesn’t need the money that desperately that they’d own him

          • guacupado@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            What? Their money has literally impeded us continuing to give aid to Ukraine. Their investments are paying insane dividends.

            • aidan@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Their money has literally impeded us continuing to give aid to Ukraine.

              Is there solid evidence of that?

      • Omgpwnies@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        They can still trade in rubles with other countries that are willing to trade with them. It’s not inconceivable that they can ‘launder’ a trade via, say India:

        1. Russia buys a few billion-ruble toothbrushes from India

        2. India invests the equivalent in USD with $DJT (minus a cut)

        3. India uses those rubles to trade at market value for goods with other countries that also trade in rubles

        Replace India and Saudi Arabia with any 2 countries on this list: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/bangladesh-among-over-30-countries-approved-trade-rouble-russian-embassy-705798

        • aidan@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Cluing in many people into conspiracies like that would require makes them much harder to keep secret