Trump investors are among Wall Street’s biggest losers
Their travails prove the peril of riding the coattails of a huckster with a history of running businesses that go bust.
By Matthew A. Winkler
December 29, 2025 — 11.00am
Investors who put their faith in Donald Trump’s publicly traded media and technology company are among the biggest losers in a stock market that rallied from Amsterdam to Sydney this year, proving the peril of riding the coat tails of a huckster with a history of running businesses that go bust.
Thirty-five years after his debt-laden Taj Mahal casino was placed in bankruptcy – the first of six such failures by the current president of the United States that included other Atlantic City properties, New York’s Plaza Hotel and Trump Entertainment Resorts – Trump’s latest washout is something called Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.
Donald Trump’s fortune continues to grow, but investors in his companies are having a different experience. Credit: smh
To be sure, calling Trump Media a company is a bit of a stretch. For starters, the venture whose primary asset is the Truth Social platform and which goes by the ticker “DJT” has managed to generate just $US3.7 million ($5.5 million) in revenue over the 12 months ended September 30 while posting an operating loss of $US186.1 million.
Losses are also piling up in the sharemarket. Shares in Trump Media tumbled 69 per cent in 2025 up to last Wednesday. Of the 20 internet media services companies in the Russell 1000 Index, it was the worst performer over three months, six months and one year, when a majority of the firms appreciated, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adding insult to injury, Trump Media also brings up the rear among the 97 public internet media services companies worldwide with a market value of at least $US1 billion.
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In a move that is hard to interpret as anything other than a desperate pivot after expanding into cryptocurrencies, financial products and sports wagering, Trump Media on Thursday said it agreed to merge with closely held fusion developer TAE Technologies in a play that will leave each with about a 50 per cent stake in the combined company. Trump Media’s shares surged 33 per cent on the announcement but they are still down about 66 per cent for the year. The gains probably say more about the fact current Trump Media management will have a greatly diminished role in the combined entity. Each company will end up with about a 50 per cent stake, and Trump Media chairman and chief executive officer Devin Nunes — formerly a Republican member of Congress from California — will become co-CEO with TAE chief executive Michl Binderbauer. Also, TAE board member Michael Schwab will become chairman.
