Trump Media & Technology Group

[ClydeR]

Trump Media is “a scam,” and people buying its high-flying stock are “dopes,” IAC and Expedia Chairman Barry Diller said Thursday in a scathing takedown of the social media company whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump.

“I mean, it’s ridiculous,” Diller said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about Trump Media. “The company has no revenue.”

“It’s a scam, just like everything he’s ever been involved in is some sort of con,” he said of Trump.

A Trump Media spokeswoman, in response to Diller’s comments, said, “It is unsurprising to see die-hard Trump haters and leftwing flacks blow a gasket now that Truth Social has become a public company that, still today, refuses to suppress political expression that contradicts the narratives they want to enforce.”

More... (https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/04/trump-media-stock-is-a-scam-barry-diller-says.html)


So far I can see, Truth Social has no technology or innovation that distinguishes it from Twitter. Nobody is thinking up clever ways to make it better. What Truth Social has is Donald Trump. People use Truth Social because Trump posts there, attracting many of his prominent followers to the site, who then reward other users by interacting with them. Dependence on Trump's personal participation is dangerous.

There is a narrow way, an unlikely Golden Path, by which Truth Social could thrive. If Trump is elected in November, you can be sure that he will post everything he considers and every action he takes on Truth Social before it appears anywhere else. He will direct other members of his administration to do the same. If you want to be the first to know the news, you'll have to use Truth Social. That will attract more users. More users will mean more advertisers. It is possible, though not likely, that Trump could successfully use the power of the presidency to make Truth Social profitable and more valuable. You can be sure that he will have no hesitation about using the government in the attempt.

[Methais]

So far I can see, Truth Social has no technology or innovation that distinguishes it from Twitter. Nobody is thinking up clever ways to make it better. What Truth Social has is Donald Trump. People use Truth Social because Trump posts there, attracting many of his prominent followers to the site, who then reward other users by interacting with them.

Grats on taking over 2 years to figure out what everyone with a fully functional brain knew since roughly February 22, 2022.

I'll let you figure out what happened on February 21, 2022.

[Seran]

So far I can see, Truth Social has no technology or innovation that distinguishes it from Twitter. Nobody is thinking up clever ways to make it better. What Truth Social has is Donald Trump. People use Truth Social because Trump posts there, attracting many of his prominent followers to the site, who then reward other users by interacting with them. Dependence on Trump's personal participation is dangerous.

There is a narrow way, an unlikely Golden Path, by which Truth Social could thrive. If Trump is elected in November, you can be sure that he will post everything he considers and every action he takes on Truth Social before it appears anywhere else. He will direct other members of his administration to do the same. If you want to be the first to know the news, you'll have to use Truth Social. That will attract more users. More users will mean more advertisers. It is possible, though not likely, that Trump could successfully use the power of the presidency to make Truth Social profitable and more valuable. You can be sure that he will have no hesitation about using the government in the attempt.

Trump's personal diary, sovereign citizen forums and canned spam letters for the download, it's a heaven for ultra conservatives and morons.

[Methais]

Trump's personal diary, sovereign citizen forums and canned spam letters for the download, it's a heaven for ultra conservatives and morons.

You're the last person on Earth who has any place to talk about anyone else, like literally anyone else at all, being a moron.

gg having no self awareness

[ClydeR]

Donald Trump's social-media company just became the most valuable publicly traded client of an accounting firm that has more experience auditing companies traded over-the-counter and has had a string of regulatory issues, including a 100% deficiency rate on audits reviewed by a US watchdog.

More... (https://fortune.com/2024/04/08/donald-trump-media-accounting-firm-bf-borgers-audit-deficiency-truth-social/)


But most of BF Borgers's clients, such as Lingerie Fighting Championships Inc., a mixed martial arts league, are significantly smaller than Trump's media business. Its deficiency rate from the PCAOB was worse than the industry rate of 40% in 2022, and the December enforcement action from Canada's audit regulator prevents it from accepting new clients in that country until it makes certain improvements.


Trump Media said in a statement that articles about BF Borgers's record were partisan and "preemptively attacking our auditors before they've even begun their work for us as a public company."


Why would Trump choose an auditor from Lakewood, Colorado -- population 150,000 -- with a questionable regulatory history? Makes you wonder.

[Seran]

His social media company stock had fallen 50% from it's high point, he's going to need a shady auditor to cook the books.

[Methais]

His social media company stock had fallen 50% from it's high point, he's going to need a shady auditor to cook the books.

Apostrophes: 9943278402378402
Seran: 0

[Parkbandit]

His social media company stock had fallen 50% from it's high point, he's going to need a shady auditor to cook the books.

79 million shares.

$37.17 close yesterday.

I'm going to go ahead and do the math for you, because I doubt you are ready for multiplication since you have so much trouble with simple addition... 79,000,000 x $37.17... you get almost 3 billion dollars.

"OMG TRUMPS' GOING TO HAVE TO DECLARE BANKRUPTCY BECAU'SE HI'S S'TOCK IS ONLY WERTH $37!"-sErAn

[Methais]

79 million shares.

$37.17 close yesterday.

I'm going to go ahead and do the math for you, because I doubt you are ready for multiplication since you have so much trouble with simple addition... 79,000,000 x $37.17... you get almost 3 billion dollars.

"OMG TRUMPS' GOING TO HAVE TO DECLARE BANKRUPTCY BECAU'SE HI'S S'TOCK IS ONLY WERTH $37!"-sErAn

Seran gets so upset when other peoples' successes cause what's left of his brain to highlight his own failures at life.

Probably should have gotten a job instead of deciding to be a useless welfare queen.

[ClydeR]

At this juncture in its development, TMTG believes that adhering to traditional key performance indicators, such as signups, average revenue per user, ad impressions and pricing, or active user accounts including monthly and daily active users, could potentially divert its focus from strategic evaluation with respect to the progress and growth of its business. TMTG believes that focusing on these KPIs might not align with the best interests of TMTG or its shareholders, as it could lead to short-term decision-making at the expense of long-term innovation and value creation. Therefore, TMTG believes that this strategic evaluation is critical and aligns with its commitment to a robust business plan that includes introducing innovative features and new technologies. See the section below titled “— Key Operating Metrics” and the section titled “Risk Factors — Risk Factors Related to TMTG — TMTG does not currently, and may never, collect, monitor or report certain key operating metrics used by companies in similar industries” incorporated in this Current Report on Form 8-K by reference to the Proxy Statement/Prospectus.

More... (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1849635/000114036124016719/ef20025342_ex99-4.htm)

Do you believe the above is true? They claim not to collect or monitor KPIs, such as signups, ad impressions and active users. Seriously, do you believe it? It's from an SEC filing, which is not a place you would ever want to misstate anything.

I think at the end of the day, Trump will come out a few hundred million dollars richer, and everybody else will lose their investment. How much did Trump pay for his shares?


It reminds me of when, 4 years ago, Trump said COVID would be better if we tested less..


Trump told supporters at his campaign rally that the U.S. has tested 25 million people, far more than any other country. The “bad part,” Trump said, is that widespread testing leads to logging more cases of the virus.

“When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases,” Trump said. “So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’ They test and they test.”

More... (https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-ap-top-news-joe-biden-tulsa-476068bd60e9048303b736e9d7fc6572)

[Parkbandit]

Wait until Trump is re-elected in November and all of his staff uses Truth Social for all their media releases.

It'll be a gold mine.

[Methais]

Wait until Trump is re-elected in November and all of his staff uses Truth Social for all their media releases.

It'll be a gold mine.

If Seran had any money to invest, he'd probably *short it the day after the election thinking he's going to GeT tRuMp!!!!

Then he'd call Trump a scammer when he gets liquidated 2 minutes later and cry about how it's not fair.


*100% chance that Seran has no idea what shorting means.

[Seran]

His social media company stock had fallen 50% from it's high point, he's going to need a shady auditor to cook the books.

This aged well. This will be the second time in which an auditor working for Donald Trump has been involved in submitting deliberately falsified information to the SEC.


Trump Media auditor charged by SEC with ‘massive fraud,’ gets permanent ban

The auditing firm for Trump Media and the auditor’s owner were charged with “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission for work that affected more than 1,500 SEC filings, the federal regulator announced.
The auditor, BF Borgers CPA and its owner Benjamin Borgers have agreed to be permanently suspended from practicing as accountants before the SEC, and also agreed to pay a combined $14 million in civil penalties, the SEC said.
The share price of Trump Media, which owns the Truth Social app, was down 9% shortly after trading began.

The auditing firm for Trump Media
and the auditor’s owner were charged Friday with “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission for work that affected more than 1,500 SEC filings, the federal regulator announced.


The auditor, BF Borgers CPA and its owner Benjamin Borgers have agreed to be permanently suspended from practicing as accountants before the SEC, and also agreed to pay a combined $14 million in civil penalties, without admitting or denying the allegations, the SEC said.

The agency, calling BF Borgers a “sham audit mill,” said the company and its owner engaged in “deliberate and systemic failures to comply with Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ... standards in its audits and reviews incorporated in more than 1,500 SEC filings from January 2021 through June 2023,” according to a press release.


BF Borgers during that same time acted as the auditor for Trump Media, which was then privately held and moving toward a planned merger with the publicly traded shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp.


Trump Media and DWAC finalized that merger in late March 2024, leading to Trump Media becoming publicly traded under the DJT ticker.

The SEC said the Lakewood, Colorado-based BF Borgers and its owner were charged with falsely telling clients that the auditor’s work would comply with PCAOB standards, fabricating audit documents to make it seem that the work did comply with those standards, and “falsely stating in audit reports included in more than 500 public company SEC filings that the firm’s audits complied with PCAOB standards,” the release said.

“As a result of their fraudulent conduct, they not only put investors and markets at risk by causing public companies to incorporate noncompliant audits and reviews into more than 1,500 filings with the Commission, but also undermined trust and confidence in our markets,” Grewal said.

BF Borgers did not immediately respond to requests for comment by CNBC.

The bombshell SEC action raised questions about the accuracy of the financial information in thousands of reports that were issued by the companies Borgers audited, including Trump Media, whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/03/trump-media-auditor-charged-by-sec-with-massive-fraud-permanently-barred-from-public-company-audits.html

[ClydeR]

This will be the second time in which an auditor working for Donald Trump has been involved in submitting deliberately falsified information to the SEC.


I still don't understand why Trump chose this particular audit firm, which already had a history of regulatory violations. If you had a new company that you wanted everybody to take seriously, why choose a firm headquartered in Colorado that did audit work for the Lingerie Fighting Championships? And I definitely still do not believe Trump's company was truthful in SEC filings when it said it does not keep track of objective key performance indicators commonly used in the industry.



The company had previously cycled through at least two other auditors — one that resigned the account in July 2023 and another that was terminated by the board in March, just as it was re-hiring BF Borgers.

In a statement, Trump Media said it “looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today’s SEC order.”

The SEC found that BF Borgers’ shortcuts included copying audit documentation from a previous year, changing relevant dates and then passing it off as current documentation. In addition to falsely documenting work that was never actually done, that fake documentation detailed planning meetings with clients that never occurred and “falsely represented” that both Benjamin Borgers and another reviewer had approved the audit work.

“Ben Borgers and his audit firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest wholesale failures by gatekeepers in our financial markets,” said Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division. “Thanks to the painstaking work of the SEC staff, Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down.”

More... (https://apnews.com/article/trump-media-auditor-sec-fraud-c6dbfc8a2e6b8a99c6c20547ad0e4cb5)

[Seran]

Because the company has zero value, a negative income stream, and a declining audience base in its primary asset. They needed a shady auditor to cook the books so those details weren't as apparent for the IPO.

[Suppressed Poet]

Because the company has zero value, a negative income stream, and a declining audience base in its primary asset. They needed a shady auditor to cook the books so those details weren't as apparent for the IPO.

That’s a wild conspiracy theory you got there Seran.

[Seran]

That’s a wild conspiracy theory you got there Seran.

Bloomberg disagrees, as does Forbes. Here's a bit of background on the overvalued position.


Measuring value

Let’s assume, for a second, that Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is a normal company whose stock should be judged by the merits of any other normal stock. With that in mind, let’s examine some of the financial fundamentals.

In case you need to get up to speed, TMTG (as I’ll call it) is the parent company of Truth Social, the social network founded in 2021 by Donald Trump. In October 2021, it agreed to merge into Digital World Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company.

Blank-check companies — or SPACs, as they are also known — enjoyed a brief moment back in 2021 as a way for companies to go public without much scrutiny of their finances. They simply merged into publicly traded firms with no operations that were sitting on a big pile of cash that investors had more or less blindly trusted the board to invest wisely.

On Tuesday, TMTG became a public company after its merger was finally approved last week. And when the shares started trading in New York with the ticker DJT, they jumped 42% to $70.90. That valued the company at $9.6 billion. By the close of regular trading, the shares had come back down to $57.99, which added about $650 million to Trump’s net worth because of his ownership stake, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Which brings us to the fundamentals. Based on that opening share price, TMTG is likely valued at more than 2,000 times annual revenue — taking the reported $3.4 million in nine-month sales and estimating for the year. Now, tech companies are often afforded generous valuations based on the assumption of rapid growth and the promise of future riches – or at least they were before interest rates increased.

But let’s put that multiple of sales in some context: Nvidia Corp., the hit stock of the artificial intelligence revolution, is valued at just 38 times sales. When the preeminent social media platform of the past two decades, Facebook Inc. (now Meta Platforms Inc.) went public in 2012, it was valued at 12.5 times revenue. The only similar point of comparison that springs to mind is Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp, which at the time had little revenue to speak of, for $19 billion in 2014.

WhatsApp did, of course, have a lot of users, though. About 450 million, at the time. TMTG doesn’t actually report the number of active users, though it said in a January regulatory filing that it has had “9.0 million signups for Truth Social via iOS, Android and the web.” Generously, each of those users is therefore afforded $1,067 in value. Meta is currently valued at $422 per monthly active Facebook user. It’s highly likely, however, that only a fraction of the signups to Truth Social use the app anything like monthly.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-03-27/trump-media-stock-value-doesn-t-take-company-finances-into-account

Forbes agrees.


Dumb Money was a movie based on a true, David vs Goliath tale, that pitted small, retail stock investors against deep pocketed Wall Street titans. GameStop was the preferred stock of choice. In this story an assembly of small, “naive” investors clobbered the savvy billionaires thanks to a“short squeeze” play utilizing an investments column on Reddit and gutsy resolve among a broad-based contingent. Ultimately, the humbled rich guys, recouped some of their losses, but not without some battle scars, and a few lessons on how to properly track the number of days to cover a short position. It is now 3 years later and the shorts are at it again. This time the stock of choice belongs to Former President Donald Trump, known as Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ Ticker: DJT). In place of the Reddit crowd, we have fervent Trump loyalists who are scattered around the country in mostly rural areas. They love their guy, and unlike most “investors”, may not really care about making money. With a current stock price near $40, DJT sells for a 33% discount to the Trump bible and provides him with more money.

To most industry observers it is an overpriced facade due to crumble and wreak havoc on those who have supported an inflated valuation.

In the month following the DWAC launch, a Letter of intent (LOI) was extended to Trump Media for $875 Million (total enterprise value of $1.2 billion). The offer was somewhat surprising for a number of reasons. First, the SPAC ownership was created with the help of ARC capital, a Chinese-based company that had a prior history with SEC investigations associated with misrepresenting shell companies. Second, the valuation of the initial offer at $875 Million, was a stretch based on any traditional valuation metric. And third, as discussed above, the timing of the SPAC formation and LOI offer led to an SEC investigation with associated fines/penalties imposed.

The valuation of DJT, based on traditional metrics, is a relatively straight forward exercise. SEC documents show that Trump Media expected monthly active user growth ranging from 58% to 33% for the first four years along with revenue growth of 90% to 55%. Importantly, expected enterprise to revenue multiples ranged from 26.8x to 13.3x for years one through five sequentially. To put the valuation in perspective, the enterprise to forward (next period) revenue valuation multiple for other social media companies such as: Meta, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit or Tencent ranges from 8.0 to 3.6. Trump Media has a TEV (total enterprise value) to Revenue multiple (based on 4/4/24 price) of 984 or 123x to 273x more than other social media companies. This implies that Trump Media (DJT) is currently valued at a massive premium to other well known social media companies . To put this another way, based on the current $3.4 million in revenue and expected growth rate of 90%, they would have approximately $6.4m in revenue for next perod. Utilizing the forward TEV of Meta (8.0), Trump Media would have a market capitalization of approximately $50M. The current market capitalization of DJT (based on 4/4/24 closing price) was $6.3 Billion! This is an approximate overvaluation of 125X. Alternatively, the DJT stock could drop by 99% and still be considered overvalued by current valuation metrics.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/joelshulman/2024/04/05/trump-media-djt-stock-is-extremely-overpriced-but-too-risky-to-short/amp/

[Suppressed Poet]

Bloomberg disagrees, as does Forbes. Here's a bit of background on the overvalued position.



Forbes agrees.

And you think investors trade solely on the basis of a company’s current financial valuation? This isn’t your world Seran. Stay in your lane.

[Parkbandit]

And you think investors trade solely on the basis of a company’s current financial valuation? This isn’t your world Seran. Stay in your lane.

His lane is shitting your pants and how to have your mommy clean it up for you.

[ClydeR]

Trump returned to posting on Twitter today. Trump Media stock dropped more than 5%. Investors in his company should feel cheated.

[Neveragain]

Trump returned to posting on Twitter today. Trump Media stock dropped more than 5%. Investors in his company should feel cheated.

I'm in the X-space with over 1 million people, along with Trump and Elon.

Notice Republicans don't divide everyone into groups.

[Neveragain]

I'm in the X-space with over 1 million people, along with Trump and Elon.

Notice Republicans don't divide everyone into groups.

The Elon / Trump X interview already has over 1 billion views in 12 hours.

[ClydeR]

From before Trump took money from DJT investors..


EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump will not return to Twitter, even as Elon Musk purchases the social media company and reinstates his account, instead using his own TRUTH Social as the sole platform for his voice.

Twitter, on Monday afternoon, announced it agreed to be acquired by Musk for $44 billion.

The former president told Fox News Monday that he will formally join his own TRUTH Social over the next seven days, as planned.

"I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH," Trump told Fox News. "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH."

More... (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-will-not-return-to-twitter-even-if-elon-musk-purchases-platform-will-begin-using-his-truth-social)


He added: "The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter."

Can you smell that? Smells like securities fraud (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securities_fraud).

[Methais]

From before Trump took money from DJT investors..





Can you smell that? Smells like securities fraud (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securities_fraud).

Title shot granted.

You've tarded it up enough that you finally deserve a shot at the retard championship.

Grats, you finally accomplished something in your miserable loser life.

[ClydeR]

Trump posted a lot on Twitter yesterday. And he's already posting there this morning. So much for Truth Social.

[ClydeR]

This article pretty much repeats everything I've been saying in this thread about Trump Media.
https://slate.com/technology/2024/08/donald-trump-truth-social-return-twitter-elon-musk-scam.html

[Gelston]

From before Trump took money from DJT investors..





Can you smell that? Smells like securities fraud (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securities_fraud).

There is no more Twitter. He went to X.

[ClydeR]

Trump started posting again on Twitter when he was interviewed by Musk on the platform. He hasn't stopped, posting multiple times yesterday. Meanwhile, Trump Media stock has fallen to its lowest point since going public. Trump himself is the only thing Trump Media has ever had going for it, and now, out of political desperation, he is reneging on the promise not to return to Twitter, which he made to investors to induce them to buy stock. "Circling the drain" is a common phrase in articles discussing DJT. Sad.

[Methais]

Trump started posting again on Twitter when he was interviewed by Musk on the platform. He hasn't stopped, posting multiple times yesterday. Meanwhile, Trump Media stock has fallen to its lowest point since going public. Trump himself is the only thing Trump Media has ever had going for it, and now, out of political desperation, he is reneging on the promise not to return to Twitter, which he made to investors to induce them to buy stock. "Circling the drain" is a common phrase in articles discussing DJT. Sad.

Until he wins and then it'll skyrocket, but you're a retard so it's understandable how you can't figure out something so obvious.