Major Trump Media shareholder ARC Global unloads nearly all DJT stock

Major Trump Media shareholder ARC Global unloads nearly all DJT stock
By: cnbc Posted On: November 15, 2024 View: 108

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One of the top shareholders of President-elect Donald Trump's media company has unloaded nearly his entire stake, a regulatory filing showed.

The Thursday night disclosure to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed that financial firm ARC Global Investments II and its manager, Patrick Orlando, no longer own more than 5% of Trump Media stock.

Orlando, the former CEO of the company that took Trump Media public in a special purpose acquisition company merger, and ARC, the sponsor of that merger, now hold just 30,147 DJT shares, or about 0.01% of the company's common stock, according to the SEC filing.

Trump Media reported in early September that ARC owned more than 11 million shares, equating to 5.4% of the company's outstanding stock.

In mid-September, a Delaware judge found that Trump Media breached an agreement with ARC and must grant it additional shares. The judge ordered that the parties work to make sure that ARC is able to sell or transfer its shares in time for the expiration of a lock-up agreement on Sept. 19.

As of Friday morning, ARC's diminished stake was worth about $850,000. ARC attorney Steven Fineman declined to comment on the sale.

Orlando and ARC indicated in the filing that the actions that required them to report the change took place Sept. 30. The timing of any specific stock sale was unclear.

The move by ARC and Orlando was revealed more than a month after another major stakeholder, United Atlantic Ventures, sold virtually its entire DJT stake.

Trump Media, which operates the Truth Social app, suffered a major sell-off in late summer and by the end of September was trading near its postmerger lows. But it saw a major stock rally in October that recovered most of those losses.

That surge came in the runup to the presidential election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Analysts say many of Trump Media's retail investors are fans of the Republican leader and are buying the company's stock as a way to support him and bet on his political fortunes.

Trump, whose majority stake of Trump Media is worth more than $3 billion, has said he has no plans to sell his shares.

After winning another White House term, Trump has used Truth Social to announce his picks for key Cabinet slots and other jobs in his administration. He has also posted on social media site X, the Elon Musk-owned site that commands a significantly larger audience than Truth Social.

A spokesperson for Trump Media did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Thursday's SEC filing.

Orlando is reportedly facing lawsuits in Florida and Delaware from investors who accuse him and ARC of wrongfully depriving them of shares.

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