In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it was revealed that Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social, has experienced significant losses since its launch. The filing, which spans 530 pages, shows that while the conservative social media platform made a profit of $50 million in 2022, it has accumulated total losses of $31.6 million since its inception in 2021.
Truth Social was introduced by Trump in October 2021, approximately nine months after he was banned from Twitter following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The platform was launched through a merger between Trump Media and Technology Corp. and Digital World Acquisition Corp., a Miami-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). SPACs are specifically established to merge with another entity for an initial public offering.
The SEC initiated an investigation into the SPAC deal of Truth Social in December 2021, coinciding with former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) leaving Congress to become the CEO of TMTG. At that time, Digital World Acquisition Corp disclosed that it had received a request for documents regarding various aspects of the company’s operations. Trump chairs TMTG.
According to the platform’s launch announcement, Truth Social aims to create an alternative to the liberal media consortium and combat the influence of Big Tech companies in Silicon Valley, which have allegedly used their power to silence opposing voices in America. Additionally, the announcement stated that Truth Social intended to launch a subscription video on demand service called TMTG+, featuring entertainment programming that is not considered “woke.” However, this service has not yet materialized.
The introduction of Truth Social came about a year after the launch of Parler, a social networking platform initially supported by Trump and other conservatives who were dissatisfied with the increased scrutiny of Facebook and Twitter posts during the 2020 election season. Following the Capitol siege, Parler was suspended from Apple’s app store and subsequently removed from Amazon Web Services and other vendors. Although there were discussions about Kanye West acquiring the platform, no deal was ultimately reached.
Inaccurate reports initially stated that TMTG had suffered a loss of $73 million. However, the corrected information reveals that the company’s losses amount to $31.6 million, and it made a profit of $50 million in 2022. We apologize for any confusion caused by the earlier erroneous reporting.
This article was contributed to by Dominic Patten.
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