A smartphone displays the logo of Donald Trump’s Truth Social app on March 25, 2024.
Anna Barclay | Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump will soon be free to start unloading his multibillion-dollar stake in his fledgling social media startup, Trump Media.
But the potential payday — Trump’s stake comprises more than half of his on-paper net worth, per Forbes — carries risks for both the Republican presidential nominee and his company.
Trump holds 114,750,000 shares, or nearly 59%, of Trump Media, which owns the social media platform Truth Social. As of Thursday, his stake was worth slightly more than $2.6 billion.
But Trump, along with others who received stock in the company before it went public, are barred from selling any of their shares for approximately 180 days under a “lockup agreement.”
Those provisions are a common feature of initial public offerings, meant to prevent company insiders from immediately cashing in their shares as soon as …