[* Fraud in the colloquial sense, not necessarily raising to the level of criminality – so far.]
Donald Trump is selling bibles, sneakers, t-shirts, pajamas, MAGA hats, and pickle board paddles. He used to sell Trump burgers, steaks, vodka, vitamins, and college courses, but he moved out of those failing businesses. His casino, hotel, and golf operations have also taken hits.
Self-proclaimed business genius Donald Trump’s finances went from bust to temporary boom when his personal tweeting company Truth Social merged with his personal media company, and both went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange. After an initial stock price rise fueled by Trump political supporters who wanted to bolster the financial position of their demagogue, the worthless company’s stock price and Trump’s net worth plummeted. Trump’s Truth Social lost $58 million in 2023 on revenues of about $4 million. Last Friday the stock dropped 12% in value. On Monday it dropped another 8% as Trump plays his followers for suckers, a fall from $66 a share to $36. Jay Ritter, an expert on initial public stock offerings, estimates that Trump Media stock is probably worth only $2 a share. Trump invested no personal money in the company, but the former president owns a large majority of its stock. When it went on the market his shares were valued at over $6 billion because of the influx of small pro-Trump investors. At last count its value was half and professional stock traders predict it will keep plummeting. Trump “owns” 78 million shares of Trump Media so at $2 a share, his billions of dollars would be worth about $150 million.
A lot of shading dealing took place behind the scenes before Trump Media became a publicly traded stock. The company had to take out emergency loans from a Caribbean-based bank, Paxum Bank, which is registered in Dominica. It appears to be part of ES Family Trust operated by Anton Postolnikov, a Russian-American businessman. Postolnikov is the subject of a federal criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Paxum Bank is not licensed in the U.S. and is not regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In 2017, an arrest warrant was issued against Postolnikov in Russia on charges of tax fraud, but the charges against Postolnikov, who had relatives in the Putin regime, mysteriously disappeared.
As of now, Trump can’t cash in on the worthless company because the merger agreement that created the company included a proviso that he could not sell his shares for six months. But, the Board of Directors of the company made up of Trump syncopates, including one of his sons, can waive that restriction. If Trump dumps stock to pay off his legal expenses and debts, the other stockholders, his political followers, would potentially lose everything. However, selling a massive amount of stock in the company could open up Trump to more legal trouble. Shareholders could sue claiming that the Board of Directors violated corporate trust and the interests of shareholders if it allows Trump to selloff his shares.