Written by Caroline Valetkevitch and Susan Heavey
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Trump Media & Technology Group’s shares saw an increase on Friday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump confirmed that he had no plans to sell his shares in the company, which includes his Truth Social media platform.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump dismissed rumors suggesting that he was considering selling shares, following a decline in the stock price the day before.
“There are false and likely illegal rumors and/or statements circulating by market manipulators or short sellers claiming that I am looking to sell shares of Truth,” Trump stated.
“THESE RUMORS OR STATEMENTS ARE FALSE. I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!,” he emphasized.
The company’s shares closed 15.2% higher on Friday at $31.91, reaching a session high of $33.03.
Trading of the stock was briefly halted due to volatility following Trump’s remarks.
On the previous day, the company’s shares declined as speculative bets on Trump securing a second term in office lost momentum after his victory over Democrat Kamala Harris. The stock had gained 5.9% on Wednesday post-Election Day.
Although Trump and Vice President Harris were closely matched in most polls leading up to the election, online betting markets favored the former president, prompting investors to invest in securities they believed would benefit under his leadership.
This led to a significant increase of about 200% in Trump Media stock in the six weeks leading up to the election.
Trump had previously stated in September that he had no intention of selling his shares in the company and would remain with the social media platform he established.
With nearly 115 million shares, Trump holds approximately 53% ownership in Trump Media. At Friday’s stock price, his stake in the company was valued at around $3.7 billion, with a total market capitalization of approximately $7 billion.
The stock’s 30-day implied volatility, a measure of how much traders expect the stock to fluctuate in the near term based on options, has decreased from the record high of 300% just before the election but remains significantly elevated at about 200%, according to Trade Alert data.
Despite the conclusion of the presidential election, options traders anticipate the stock to fluctuate by up to 25% over the next week, as per LSEG options data.