Truth Social investors hoped to get ‘very rich’ after Trump’s win. Not quite.
Trump Media & Technology Group’s revenue and share price have sagged as its losses have piled up. The president-elect’s return to the White House could complicate things even more.

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Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Nov. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Drew Harwell
November 19, 2024 at 10:05 a.m. EST

John Viaud, a retiree in South Carolina, knew he was taking a big risk when he poured his pension money into the stock of his political icon’s social media company, Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group. ... As its share price sank in the months before the election, he took to the company’s Truth Social platform to write, “This is getting depressing! I’ve lost $600,000. … C’mon Trump!”

But Viaud was hopeful a Trump electoral win would rocket the stock into the stratosphere, posting, “Come November all of us are going to be very rich!!!”

In the days since the election, however, the stock has fallen, losing nearly half its value since last month’s peak. And on a Truth Social investor board, users who had been predicting a post-vote surge began voicing their agitation. “The fact is we are in trouble,” one wrote.

As its top shareholder prepares for the White House, Trump Media is facing what some financial experts are calling an identity crisis that has undermined its worth.

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By Drew Harwell
Drew Harwell is a reporter for The Washington Post covering technology. He was a member of an international reporting team that won a George Polk Award in 2021.follow on X drewharwell