Dive Brief:

• Phillip Juhan, CFO of Truth Social owner Trump Media, recently sold approximately $1.9 million in company shares which were remitted back to the company “solely to cover withholding payments to applicable taxing authorities,” according to a recent securities filing.
• Other key company executives including its CEO Devin Nunes, chief operating officer Andrew Northwall and general counsel Scott Glabe also sold certain amounts of their company shares, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, also to cover withholding payments. The sales came after the company’s audit committee approved the repurchasing of “an aggregate of 128,138 shares of the Company’s common stock from certain executive employees,” at a share price of $22.7, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
• News of the repurchase program comes as a six-month period barring former President Donald Trump from selling his own shares in the Sarasota, Florida-based Trump Media ticks to a close. The former president owns 114.75 million shares in Trump Media, or approximately 60% of its outstanding stock, according to a report by Quartz.

Dive Insight:

Trump, CEO Nunes, and CFO Juhan were among the executives who were not permitted to sell their common stock in the company for six months after its debut via special acquisition company merger in March, according to a CNBC report.

Trump could offload his stock for a payday of about $2 billion, according to a recent report by Quartz, though the move would likely send its already-slumping value plummeting. The company has continued to see its share price tumble amid election turmoil and ongoing legal battles in Delaware and Florida, which have put strain on the Truth Social owner’s already stretched coffers.

While the company has taken steps to shore up its flagging results, signing a TV streaming deal and ending its second quarter without debt, it reported a net loss of about $16.4 million for the quarter ended June 30 on revenue of $837,000, compared to a net loss of $22.8 million in the year’s earlier period, according to its most recent earnings results. 

During the quarter, Trump Media also reported notable expenses, such as paying $602,000 for accounting fees, which included the cost of “re-auditing TMTG's fiscal year 2022 and 2023 results after the Company secured a new auditor,” according to its results. The company dismissed its previous auditor BF Borgers in May, after the firm incurred a $12 million civil penalty from the SEC for conducting sham audits, CFO Dive previously reported.

The company’s quarterly losses come after it reported a net loss of $58 million last year, with revenue coming in at just $4.1 million. However, many of its executives still received payouts in the millions last year, mostly due to awards of stock, CNBC previously reported.

Juhan, Northwall and Nunes received promissory notes when the company was still private, the value of which was automatically converted to shares of company stock upon its public debut, according to an April report by CNBC. Juhan was issued a note for $4.9 million, while Nunes received a $1.15 million note and $200,000 was earmarked for Northwall.

Both Nunes and Juhan received relatively low base salaries — $750,000 for Nunes and $300,000 for Juhan — but comparatively high amounts of company stock last year, a mix which reflects ongoing trends in executive pay emphasizing long-term incentives, according to reports.

Notably, Juhan’s shares in Trump Media dwarf that of Nunes’, according to company filings. Juhan has 405,059 shares following the Aug. 22 transaction, while Nunes, meanwhile, has 87,154 following the sale.

In association with the stock remit it approved on Aug. 22, “the Company will remit $2,908,708, plus applicable penalties and interest, to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and certain state taxing authorities in connection with the March 7, 2024 issuance of the TMTG Executive Promissory Notes,” according to the filing.

Trump Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment.