Trump Has Lost Whopping $700 Million Over Truth Social’s Failings — So Far — Per Forbes Report

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

Former President Donald Trump bet it all on Truth Social to carry his social media presence, but a new report says the venture has thus far failed to pay off, and it has taken out a massive chunk of his net worth.

Forbes published an article on Tuesday with their assessment that Trump’s fortune sank by about $700 million in recent months, bringing his net worth down from $3.2 billion to $2.5. According to Forbes, the primary reason is that Truth Social hasn’t been the profitable Twitter alternative that Trump hoped it would be, even as he continues to promote the platform.

Here’s how it happened, as explained by the article’s writer, Dan Alexander:

As soon as [Trump] announced the plan, supporters piled into Truth Social’s special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Shares of the SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp., shot up from $10 to $175 in two days, implying that the business was worth $22 billion, his interest amounting to $19 billion.

The hype never lined up with reality. In December 2021, a group of big-money investors promised to inject $1 billion in cash into the venture—but only if they got a sweetheart deal. By that point, shares were trading for $45 on the open market. But under the agreement, the new investors would be guaranteed a profit as long as the shares stayed above $10. When previously estimating the value of Trump’s stake, Forbes used that $10-per-share figure and came to $730 million.

Aside from the fact that SPAC is under examination by federal agencies, Truth Social’s profitability has seemingly tanked due to a combination of disinterest by Trump fans, plus Elon Musk’s reversal of Trump’s exile from Twitter. Forbes notes that Truth Social was expected to have 81 million users by 2026, but it has only gathered about 5 million users, and Trump still owns 85 percent of the company.

“Truth Social is adding an estimated 100,000 users per month. If people continue to join at the current pace—and assuming that no one quits or dies—Truth Social will not hit its projected 81 million users until 2086,” Alexander writes. “By that point, Trump would be 140 years old. A more likely outcome: Truth Social will join Trump Steaks, Trump University and GoTrump.com in the graveyard of failed Trump ventures.”