The co-founders of Trump Media & Tech Group, which launched the Truth Social platform, have reportedly sold off almost all their shares, amounting to around $100 million in stock. Andrew Litinsky and Wesley Moss, who were instrumental in creating the platform, divested their stakes following the expiration of a lockup agreement that prevented large investors, including Donald Trump, from selling their shares.
Stock Sale After Lockup Agreement Expiration
According to a regulatory filing, United Atlantic Ventures, the investment firm owned by Litinsky and Moss, disposed of nearly its entire 5.5% stake in Trump Media. This sale occurred after the lockup agreement, which restricted major investors from selling their shares, ended on September 19. The agreement was put in place after the company went public in March.
Trump Maintains His Shares
Despite the stock sell-off by his co-founders, Trump has made it clear that he has no intention of selling his shares in the company. Earlier this month, the former president said, “A lot of people think that I will sell my shares, you know, they’re worth billions of dollars, but I don’t want to sell my shares. I don’t need money.”
Trump emphasized that he continues to use Truth Social as his primary platform for communicating with the public, following his ban from Twitter (now X) after the January 6 Capitol riot.
Origins of Truth Social
Litinsky and Moss, both former contestants on season two of The Apprentice, initially pitched the idea of Truth Social to Trump after he was banned from mainstream social media. The platform was designed as an alternative for free speech, and the co-founders played a critical role in facilitating the merger that took Trump Media public.
Legal Dispute Between Co-Founders and Trump Media
Relations between Trump Media and its co-founders, Litinsky and Moss, have not remained smooth. Trump Media attorneys previously argued that United Atlantic Ventures (UAV), Litinsky and Moss’s investment firm, was not entitled to shares in the company due to alleged mismanagement.
However, earlier this month, a federal judge in Delaware ruled in favor of UAV, affirming that Litinsky and Moss were entitled to sell their minority stake in Trump Media. The lawsuit had been filed against Odyssey Transfer and Trust, a securities transfer agent, to ensure the co-founders could sell their stock.