Donald Trump's social network Pravda loses £258m

Donald Trump's media accounts for a significant portion of his wealth. Photo: Mark Peterson/Poole via REUTERS

Donald Trump's social network lost $327.6m (£257.7m) in the first three months of the year, according to the first results released since the $8bn blockbuster in March.

Trump Media and Technology (TMTG), the parent company of Trump's Twitter rival Truth Social, posted a loss on revenue of just $770,500, down from $1.1 million a year earlier. It attributed the drop to «a change in the revenue share of one of our advertising partners.»

The loss was driven almost entirely by accounting costs associated with the company's recent listing in New York.

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From an operating standpoint, the company lost $12.1 million, about half of which came from costs associated with the stock offering.

The company is now valued at $6.6 billion and accounts for a significant portion of the president's former wealth. He owns 65% of TMTG.

Truth Social, Trump's only social network, was founded after the former president left office in 2021 and launched in 2022. It functions similarly to Twitter, now known as X: users can post «truths» or share other people's posts by «rebutting» them.

Commentators said the company's value was out of touch with financial reality, and TMTG was likened to a «meme stock» that was being inflated by Mr. Trump's supporters. Revenue comes primarily from advertising.

The company has also faced a wave of short selling, when investors bet that a company's stock price will fall.

TMTG said late Monday that it had made progress on the launch of the video streaming service it first announced in April, signing agreements with data center and hardware companies to provide infrastructure.

Devin Nunes, chief executive TMTG director and former Republican congressman, said the company is also considering mergers and acquisitions.

He said the company is «well capitalized and supported by a legion of retail shareholders who believe in our mission of providing a springboard for freedom words against big tech censorship.”

TMTG was forced to replace its auditor, BF Borgers, earlier this month after US regulators shut down the firm, accusing it of “massive fraud.”

Trump's company went public in March through a merger with Digital World, a registered shell company that used the stock symbol «DJT.» » are the initials of the former president and 2024 Republican nominee.

TMTG had approximately $274 million in cash at the end of the first quarter.