Truth Social: why Donald Trump’s social media ‘meme stock’ surged and fell by over US$1 billion within a week
Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, went public on Tuesday March 26. Shares in parent company Trump Media & Technology Group surged 15% after its first day of trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange, adding US$1.1 billion (£876 million) to the company’s value.
Trump wrote “I LOVE TRUTH SOCIAL” on the platform, echoing the sentiment of “I just like the stock” from the GameStop share rally that occurred in January 2021.
For those who do not remember the GameStop case, shares in the Texan computer games retail chain experienced an unprecedented surge in prices following the activity of retail investors on the social media platform, Reddit.
Millions of investors from Reddit’s WallStreetBets community pushed GameStop shares from US$20 to US$480 during the January “short squeeze”, in which they drove some hedge funds into heavy losses after forcing them to liquidate massive bets against the stock.
