Truth Social Investor Presentation: A Reality Check
Admin correction: A previous version of this story’s headline stated that the Truth Social investor presentation was “leaked,” but in the fall of 2021, the deck was publicly available on the Trump Media & Technology Group website.
Introduction
In November 2021, a presentation was given to potential investors in Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) and Trump Media & Technology Group. This presentation painted a very optimistic picture, but reality has been quite different. Let’s dive into the details.
Revenue Projections vs. Reality
2023 Projections
Projected Revenue: $114,000,000
Actual Revenue: $4,100,000
They missed their target by 96% and had a corporate loss of $58,000,000 for 2023.
2024 Projections
Projected Revenue: $835,000,000
Actual Revenue (Q2 2024): $836,900
For 2024, the total losses are $343,000,000, largely due to merger expenses and the start of public trading as DJT. If this trend continues, the total revenue is likely to be around $4,100,000, missing the target by 99.5%.
Future Projections
2025 Projected Revenue: $1,800,000,000
2026 Projected Revenue: $3,600,000,000
Given the current trends, these projections seem highly unrealistic.
Audit Concerns
The auditor for Trump Media, BF Borgers CPA, admitted to massive fraud in over 1,500 SEC filings and paid a civil penalty of $14 million. The firm was called a “sham audit mill” and is now permanently suspended from practicing before the SEC. Despite this, the DJT Board approved keeping BF Borgers as auditors in March 2024, just three days after DJT began public trading.
Bankruptcy Risks
Several companies associated with Donald Trump have filed for bankruptcy protection, including:
- Trump Taj Mahal (AC)
- Trump Plaza
- Trump Castle
- Plaza Hotel
- Trump Marina Hotel & Casino
- Trump Entertainment Resorts
Trump Media cannot guarantee that it will perform better than these entities.
Failed Trump Ventures
Other failed Trump ventures include:
- Trump Shuttle
- Trump University
- Trump Vodka
- Trump Mortgage LLC
- GoTrump.com (travel site)
- Trump Steaks
Truth Social User Projections
The presentation projected that Truth Social would have 81,000,000 users by 2026. In reality, it only has about 4 million monthly visits on average between May 2023 and April 2024. Daily visits dropped over 21% between April and May 2024. To meet their goal, they would need to grow by 27% a month for the next two years.
Comparative Investments
Truth Social was compared to Twitter (now X), Facebook, and even Netflix, iHeart, and Disney. However, the actual performance has been far from these giants.
Digital World Acquisition Corp. and ARC Capital
Digital World Acquisition Corp. was created with the help of ARC Capital, a Shanghai-based firm specializing in getting Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges. ARC Capital has been investigated by the SEC for misrepresenting shell companies.
Lawsuits and Legal Issues
There are ongoing lawsuits between the former CEO of Digital World Acquisition Corp. and Trump. Additionally, to move the merger forward, there were admissions of securities fraud against Digital World Acquisition Corp., leading to an $18,000,000 settlement.
Current Stock Performance
As of 1:00 PM Eastern time, DJT is trading flat for the day, bouncing between $16.70 and $17.75, with trading volume within its normal range.
Thanks to MeidasTouch for encouraging a deeper look into this issue.
