(MAY 30 article corrects closing price to $51.84 (not $51.12) in paragraph 2; corrects to show IPO resulting from merger with SPAC in paragraph 4; corrects maximum closing price by $66.22 (not $79.38) in point 5)
Chibuike Ogu
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Trump Media & Technology Group shares fell 6.5% late on Thursday after a New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of falsifying documents to hide a payment to silence a porn star. before the 2016 elections.
Shares of Trump’s majority-owned parent company Truth Social traded at $48.44 after the close. It closed at $51.84 during regular hours on Thursday, giving it a valuation of $9 billion.
After deliberating for two days, the 12-member jury announced it had found Trump guilty on all 34 counts he faced. Presiding Judge Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11, days before the July 15 start of the Republican National Convention, which is expected to formally nominate Trump for president.
Trump Media shares began trading on March 26 after the company merged with Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Trump supporters and speculators snapped up the company’s shares, sending the stock soaring as much as 59% in its debut on the Nasdaq. The company reported revenue of $770,500 for the March quarter and an adjusted operating loss of $12.1 million.
The stock has been extremely volatile. The highest closing price was $66.22 on March 27th and the lowest closing price was $22.84 on April 16th.