Donald Trump has entered the ranks of the world’s 500 richest people today after shares in his social media company surged on their Wall Street debut.
Shares in Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the entity behind Mr Trump’s Twitter rival Truth Social, rose by more than 50% at one point after it arrived on the Nasdaq exchange through a merger with a listed cash shell.
This values Mr Trump’s majority stake in the company at more than $5.5billion (£4.3billion), sending his estimated net worth to more than $8billion.
This would be enough for entry into the list of the world’s 500 richest people according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Truth Social reported revenues of $3.4million in the first nine months of 2023, compared to $554million for Reddit in the same timeframe. Mr Trump’s company lost $49million over the nine-month period.
It also has around five million monthly active users, according to estimates, which would value the company at around $2,000 for each user. In comparison, Meta is worth slightly more than $400 per user and Snapchat around $24 per user.
The deal is a boost for Mr Trump who has faced mounting legal bills linked to various court battles, including a dispute over the value of his golf course in Aberdeenshire .
He won a reprieve on Monday when a judge reduced a bond payment associated with a New York civil fraud judgement from $454million to $175million.
Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters.
He is currently barred from selling his Truth Social holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.
The company's board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately.
If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.