By Michelle Conlin
NEW YORK (Reuters) -One night in late October, Whitney Patterson spotted a YouTube video about people buying shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the U.S. president-elect’s social media and streaming company.
Patterson had never heard of Trump Media and had never invested in a stock on her own. But that night, Patterson, whose family owns a pickle business, moved a third of the cash in her retirement fund into Donald Trump’s company.
About a week later, she voted for him too.
Now, Trump Media investors are joined by those investing in a digital token called $Trump, branded with an image from Trump’s attempted assassination in July, that Trump launched on Friday night.
Patterson said that because Trump has vowed never to sell his Trump Media stock, neither will she. She believes the shares will become so valuable they will provide a legacy for the three young daughters she schools in her Pittsburgh home.
“I know how important Truth Social is going to be in my lifetime and for my girls’ future,” said Patterson, of the social-media platform owned by Trump Media. “I’m not pulling out.” She did not want to publicize the amount she invested.
Patterson, 45, is one of 600,000 retail investors whose fortunes are linked with those of the president-elect they support, and they see Monday’s inauguration as a turning point for the stock.
Trump owns a 53% stake worth $4.6 billion. Retail investors are the company’s second-biggest ownership group, owning more than a quarter of it.
Some of the 39,000-member $DJT stock group on Truth Social gathered in Washington, D.C., over the weekend to pass out company swag then watch Trump take office for the second time on Monday.
In thousands of messages on social media stock chat groups, and in more than a dozen interviews, Trump Media’s small investors professed the same never-sell approach that animated GameStop mania and the bitcoin frenzy that saw the cryptocurrency break $100,000 after the November presidential election.
Trump Media investors were trying to figure out what to make of the Trump crypto coin on Monday. Trump Media shareholder George L. Paschall, 46, who works for a flooring company in Saginaw, Michigan, said he only learned about the $Trump coin, “after it blew up. I will likely wait for it to settle before buying some.”
Investors say they are well aware of Trump Media’s status as a meme stock but they say they are impervious to its wild price swings because they believe the company, which served as a proxy for Trump’s election odds, will become more valuable as Trump returns to the White House.
In social-media posts and interviews, they speculated that X owner Elon Musk and Trump could merge their social-media platforms. They also point to efforts by Trump Media to investigate the possibility of naked short selling before the election.
Others say they believe that by investing, they are supporting the “patriot economy.” As Trump’s presidency begins, “the momentum and support will be unstoppable,” Patterson said.
Shares closed on Friday at $40.03, up 18% since Election Day but down from their 2024 high of $79.38 in March. The stock fell last year as low as $11.75 in September.
The same fever was around the Trump coin on Monday. But on Truth Social some posted about how they were upset that the coin was potentially a rival to Trump Media.
Trump Media’s $8.7-billion market cap remains detached from its business fundamentals. On election night, it reported a third-quarter net loss of $19.2 million on revenue of $1 million, with a cash balance of $672.9 million.
“DJT remains a typical meme stock with a loyal retail holder base that trades on speculation, opposed to fundamental value,” said Matthew Unterman, managing director of analytics firm S3 Partners.
The Trump Organization, the Trump transition team and Trump Media did not respond to requests for comment.
GOLF CLUBS TO SOCIAL MEDIA
When Trump left the White House in January 2021, his net worth was $2.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine. His holdings were made up of real estate, private country clubs and licensing deals.
Forbes now estimates Trump’s net worth at $6.7 billion. His stake in Trump Media makes up, on paper, the biggest chunk of his fortune. Trump has nominated three Trump Media board members to serve in his administration.
That does not include the value of the $Trump coin launched on Friday.
The market capitalization of the coin was around $10.8 billion according to CoinMarketCap, potentially adding another $8.2 billion–at least on paper–to Trump’s net worth.
Four-fifths of Trump coin’s tokens are owned by CIC Digital, an affiliate of Trump’s business, and another entity called Fight, Fight, Fight, according to its website. It says the coins are “an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol ‘$TRUMP'” and are not an investment or security.
The President-elect’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his net worth or the potential rivalry for dollars with Trump Media.
In December, Trump transferred his Trump Media shares into a revocable trust controlled by his son, Don Jr. The Trump Organization said this month Trump will hand daily management of his holdings to his children when he takes office, repeating an arrangement he made during his first term that some ethics experts said still posed conflicts.
(Reporting by Michelle Conlin; Additional reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Megan Davies, Rod Nickel and Daniel Wallis)
