President-elect Donald Trump is transferring all of his shares in the social media company that bears his name to a trust controlled by his eldest son, according to regulatory filings late Thursday.
Filing and Securities and Exchange Commission said Trump transferred about 115 million shares of its parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group. truth societyto trust. He did not sell the shares and received no financial consideration for the transfer, which was described as a gift to the company. Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.
Trump is the largest shareholder of Trump Media Technology Group, with nearly 53% of its shares worth approximately $4 billion. Trump Media, which is losing money, has only made a few million dollars in revenue. Trump’s ownership is one of his most valuable assets, according to Trump Media’s market valuation.
According to a separate regulatory filing, the trust is controlled by donald trump jr. The document states that Trump’s son is a member of the Trump Media board of directors and serves as the sole trustee of the trust and “has sole voting and investment rights with respect to all securities owned.”
Following the transfer, the president-elect now “indirectly” owns the shares and is a beneficiary of the trust, the filing said.
The share transfer took place on Tuesday.
It’s unclear what prompted the move. Trump said during the presidential campaign that he had no plans to sell any shares. Since Trump’s eldest son now makes decisions for the trust, that could open the door to selling shares without breaking the promise.
Shortly before taking office in 2017, Trump transferred some of his assets and business shares to the same trust. Some ethics experts criticized the move at the time because the trust was ostensibly established for Trump’s benefit.
Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Better Markets, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing transparency on Wall Street, said the move would do little to address potential conflicts of interest because the trust is owned by Trump’s Son controls.
“This is not a blind trust with an independent trustee, and one can trust that the conflict of interest has actually been eliminated,” he said.
A Trump media spokesman declined to comment on the contents of the financial documents. Representatives for the Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
