On March 25, 2024, you’ll see the logo for Donald Trump’s Truth Social app on your smartphone.
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trump media The company announced that Chief Operating Officer Andrew Northwall resigned at the end of September. Regulatory filing Thursday.
In the same filing, former President Donald Trump’s social media company announced it would release about 800,000 shares of its stock to early investors, following a recent order by a Delaware judge.
At Thursday’s closing price, those shares would be worth about $12.7 million.
The company, which is listed on the Nasdaq as DJT, did not provide an explanation for Northwall’s resignation, but said it “plans to assume his role internally.”
Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission do not show a direct link between developments in the Delaware case and the executives’ departures.
In mid-September, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Lori Will ruled that Trump Media had breached its contract with ARC Global Investments II, the so-called sponsor of the merger that took the company public.
The legal dispute centered on competing claims over how to calculate the number of Class A shares owed by ARC after Trump Media merged with blank check company Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC).
Mr Will ruled that the share conversion ratio offered by DWAC was too low and that ARC was entitled to acquire more shares.
Trump Media noted in Thursday’s SEC filing that the judge also rejected ARC’s proposed ratio, which was much higher.
However, the company said that as a result of the court order, “a portion of the disputed convertible common stock held in escrow has been released to ARC.”
Trump Media announced that it would release 785,825 shares of its common stock to ARC.
ARC investor Patrick Orlando was the original CEO of DWAC. He was forced out of DWAC in 2023, a year before Trump Media and DWAC completed their merger in late March.
In July, the SEC charged Orlando with lying in public securities reports about the proposed merger of DWAC and Trump Media.
The SEC asked the court to compel Orlando to turn over “all ill-gotten gains” from the alleged fraud and pay a civil penalty. The agency is also seeking a permanent injunction against Mr. Orlando from serving as an officer or director of any publicly traded company.
The case is ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Trump is a major shareholder in Trump Media, which operates the Twitter-like social media platform Truth Social.
The Republican presidential candidate owns nearly 57% of the company’s stock, which on paper is worth nearly $1.9 billion.
He and other company insiders, including ARC, were prohibited from selling stock until September 19, when the lock-up agreement expires.
Days after that restriction was lifted, one of the company’s largest shareholders, United Atlantic Ventures, sold virtually all of its 11 million shares, according to an SEC filing.
Based on the price range at which DJT stock rose after the lockup ended, the stock could have been worth at least $128 million.
President Trump has vowed not to sell his company’s stock.
