Trump biographer says ex-president could lose 'at least half of his net worth' in November
Donald Trump could potentially lose more than just the presidential race in November, his own biographer said Saturday.
Tim O'Brien, author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald, appeared on MSNBC over the weekend to discuss what the host deemed the former president's "struggling" social media network, Truth Social. Specifically, O'Brien was asked about how much of Trump's net worth is wrapped up in the site, which has seen its stock sinking.
According to O'Brien, "probably about half of his net worth, at least" is tied up in the company.
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"That is all on paper, you never know with Trump. He carries a lot of debt. But I would think at least half of his net worth is the $2.7 billion or so stake in Truth Social," O'Brien said.
He went on to say that "we are in a very unusual position of having a publicly traded stock which is actually a barometer for Trump's political fortunes because the business model for Truth Social is nothing more than the cult of Donald Trump's personality and social media presence."
"It has never really gotten off the ground as an independent business, as you noted, it has minimal revenue and loses a lot of money. The stock is down over 50 percent over the last six months. It is because his political fortunes have started to trend down and, without Trump the president at the helm of Truth Social, Truth Social as a magnetic force or a social media dialogue is basically nonexistent," he added. He went on to say that the stock bumped up after the assassination attempt on Trump because his political fortunes looked much better leading into to Republican National Convention.
However, according to the biographer, "since then all of the momentum has gone to the Democrats," causing the stock to weaken again.
If Trump loses in November, according to O'Brien, "the value in it, it becomes negligible."
"I can't say it goes to zero but it climbs even more dramatically from where it is," he added. "The prospects for this company aren't good."