More than 14 months after leaving office – and while still contesting the 2020 election – former President Donald Trump has seen his net worth soar to $3 billion, according to brand new numbers from Forbes.
When Trump ran for president in 2016, his net worth sat at $4.5 billion. That number declined steadily during his time in office, all the way down to $2.1 billion in 2020.
His wealth rose marginally, to $2.4 billion, in 2021, his first year out of office.
What accounts for Trump’s wealth surge?
According to Forbes, it was the launch of Truth Social, the social media company being cast as a conservative alternative to Twitter. Wrote Forbes’ Dan Alexander:
“Donald Trump, master of reinvention, has a new title: tech entrepreneur. It’s a stretch for the 75-year-old, who doesn’t even use email, preferring instead to scrawl notes in marker. But he doesn’t mind jumping into ventures in which he has little previous experience—and this gig should prove far more lucrative than the presidency. In fact, it has already boosted his net worth by $430 million.”
What’s remarkable about that fact is that, by almost any independent measure, Truth Social is struggling.
Two top executives left their posts recently, according to Reuters, and the app has dropped rapidly in terms of downloads from the Apple app store. (I have been waiting for six weeks to be admitted to the app.)
None of that appears to matter to investors. Nor does the fact, apparently, that Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special purpose acquisition company that is set to take Truth Social public, is currently laboring under an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Shares in the stock have jumped from $10 to more than $56 as of the market close on Monday.
Trump has spent much of his life — and his presidency — exaggerating his wealth.
