Trump’s Truth Social Has Lost $73M Since Launch, New Filing Shows (www.hollywoodreporter.com)
from ZeroCool@feddit.ch to technology@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 01:10
https://feddit.ch/post/2297305

#technology

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autotldr@lemmings.world on 14 Nov 2023 01:15 next collapse

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The numbers were revealed in a new financial disclosure from TMTG’s SPAC merger partner Digital World Acquisition Corp.

The filing indicates that, if TMTG is unable to complete the merger with DWAC, and receive the pot of money on the line, it may not survive.

The amended S-4 filing also broke out a number of updates and risk factors related to the company, including the fact that the long-planned streaming video service appears to be off the table for now.

The filing makes no mention of the service (which was teased with conservative comedy specials and “Trump-specific programming”) except in relation to layoffs.

“This action followed a review of all departments, most significantly impacted TMTG’s streaming video on demand (SVOD) and infrastructure teams.”

In May of 2022, Trump agreed to make Truth Social his primary social platform, agreeing not to post on other platforms until 6 hours after he sends a “Truth.” However, since initially signing the deal with TMTG, Elon Musk acquired Twitter and reinstated Trump’s account (he also rebranded it as “X.”)


The original article contains 576 words, the summary contains 174 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

Pons_Aelius@kbin.social on 14 Nov 2023 01:20 next collapse

I doubt their goal was to make money.

db2@sopuli.xyz on 14 Nov 2023 01:35 next collapse

Not from that anyway, he’s parted plenty of his dipshit cult followers from theirs with it though.

PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 02:13 collapse

Exactly. Socialize the losses via a big faceless corporation, while consolidating the profits via donations. It should honestly be considered embezzlement.

nous@programming.dev on 14 Nov 2023 02:19 collapse

Add it to his list of crimes. Though, fairly likely embezzlement is already on there.

ram@bookwormstory.social on 14 Nov 2023 02:18 next collapse

It’s yet another hole in his wallet… assuming it’s even him paying for it. I’ll say one thing, these troglodytes are good at just not paying for things they owe for. Whether it be fines for putting up an illegal sign, or lawyers and other service-people.

Pons_Aelius@kbin.social on 14 Nov 2023 02:22 collapse

assuming it’s even him paying for it.

I seriously doubt he has spent dollar one on this.

AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 02:27 collapse

If I owe the bank $1000 that’s my problem, if I owe the bank $73,000,000 that’s the banks problem.

AlwaysNowNeverNotMe@kbin.social on 14 Nov 2023 02:16 next collapse

*has spent 73 million sewing discord

joenforcer@midwest.social on 14 Nov 2023 06:06 collapse

Sowing*.

It’s spreading it like seeds, not stiching it like a seam.

sunbeam60@lemmy.one on 14 Nov 2023 07:23 collapse

Why not both? Discord all around!!

Generative@aussie.zone on 14 Nov 2023 02:34 next collapse

It’s essentially a defederated Mastodon instance. Quite impressive that it can it lose 75 million.

db2@sopuli.xyz on 14 Nov 2023 03:23 next collapse

That’s the one thing he’s good at, losing other peoples money.

StopSpazzing@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 07:10 collapse

One could even say he’s the biggest loser.

Honytawk@lemmy.zip on 15 Nov 2023 16:37 collapse

That honour goes to Elmo.

Call me when Trump loses 30 billion in a year.

StopSpazzing@lemmy.world on 15 Nov 2023 18:43 collapse

I don’t talk poorly about Elmo because… “Elmo knows where you live!” -Simpsons

14th_cylon@lemm.ee on 14 Nov 2023 05:23 collapse

it might very well be a way to steal these 75m from someone… probably from some morons contributing to his fight to make america great again or something. he is a fraudster after all and it would make total sense.

Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml on 14 Nov 2023 02:55 next collapse

Was it meant to make money? I mean, I think it’s just basically like old fashioned campaigning materials and propaganda, it’s just taking on the new interactive dimensions of social media and the perpetual campaigning of modern politics that Trump particularly is known for. Really it’s “profit” would be measured in outcomes rather than dollars, just as ad campaigns track numbers.

JTskulk@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 04:31 next collapse

I’ve sat for a while meditating on this, and now I come here to share the fruits of my mental labor. The comment I’ve been working on for hours is: lol

mark@programming.dev on 14 Nov 2023 23:00 next collapse

I appreciate keeping it short for us. Some comments on here are so long winded sometimes

Honytawk@lemmy.zip on 15 Nov 2023 16:38 collapse

Like yours.

I mean, 2 whole sentences?

ajoebyanyothername@lemmy.world on 15 Nov 2023 16:55 collapse

Pot, kettle.

reverendsteveii@lemm.ee on 15 Nov 2023 17:40 collapse

Picture OP in a lab coat and glasses, staring pensively at a blue liquid in an erlenmeyer flask. Behind them is a whiteboard with “LPL LXL L?L” written on it. The world awaits, breath held close as a mother holds her newborn.

Excrubulent@slrpnk.net on 14 Nov 2023 04:33 next collapse

73 million is so much money I wouldn’t know what to do with it in my entire lifetime.

Its ~0.3% of the ~20 billion twitter has lost.

Rich people live in a different universe.

eager_eagle@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 05:28 next collapse

if I had billions I’m sure as hell I wouldn’t buy Twitter

StopSpazzing@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 07:11 next collapse

Which is why you don’t have millions!

_dev_null@lemmy.zxcvn.xyz on 14 Nov 2023 08:07 collapse

I’d disappear into the hedges and nobody would ever know my name.

Fuck that whole ego stroking “hey I’ve got to start a space tourist business to sell rides to space for other rich narcissist assholes”.

Nope, I’d disappear onto my own island or huge land reserve, and have an army of accountants and lawyers to ensure I remain anonymous to the larger public.

mark@programming.dev on 14 Nov 2023 22:57 next collapse

I’d live there with you

realitista@lemm.ee on 15 Nov 2023 17:32 next collapse

The only reason that anyone has that much money is because of a massive personality problem like NPD. Normal people would drop out and enjoy life long before they got to that point.

reverendsteveii@lemm.ee on 15 Nov 2023 17:38 collapse

Found Top 8 Tom

dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de on 15 Nov 2023 18:54 collapse

They’re flawed people.

I would stop at £1M. I’m not going to earn more than that before I die. But free time is far more valuable.

Everybody has different goals, but honestly does anybody even need to pass £10M. Broken hoarders is what they are.

giacomo@lemm.ee on 14 Nov 2023 04:59 next collapse

This is not really surprising.

AnAngryAlpaca@feddit.de on 14 Nov 2023 05:36 next collapse

Can someone explain how this website lost millions? Given that this size was not that big, I fail to see how it could cost this much in admin and Server cost. Even some better known commercial shops will hardly hit 5digits in monthly server costs, plus salaries for 1-3 admins and support staff, and maybe advertising costs.

37million sounds like something they pulled out of thin air, maybe for some bookkeeping fraud or tax write off…

FReddit@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 05:51 next collapse

Fraud.

Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works on 14 Nov 2023 07:34 collapse

I’m thinking it may also be money laundering. Maybe it’s both!

ladicius@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 06:02 next collapse

Some people gut very lucrative contracts out of it. Some influential public person endorsing this shit heavily? Pay him big money. Really big money. The biggest money ever seen.

anlumo@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 12:30 next collapse

Especially since they’re just using existing software, they’re not even implementing their own…

CouncilOfFriends@slrpnk.net on 15 Nov 2023 15:55 next collapse

You are forgetting how much Trump has to pay Tim Apple. SAD!

Very unfair, but he is looking at it strongly

ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk on 15 Nov 2023 16:08 collapse

The classic Trump way, receive investment money and then pay yourself that investment money and more. Take out loans in the company’s name and eventually asset strip it to pay yourself again.

Decentralizr@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 06:50 next collapse

Don’t care about him so I didn’t even bother… but congrats to him! As elons dead bird side lost way more haha

Geobloke@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 07:46 next collapse

Seems like a low cost way to lock people into your viewpoint. Way cheaper than traditional advertising

Gazumi@lemmy.world on 14 Nov 2023 11:33 next collapse

Their acounts going from the green, heading towards the red. Currently mired with the orange.

coffee_poops@sh.itjust.works on 15 Nov 2023 12:41 next collapse

You think they even spent that much on its development?

lmaydev@lemmy.world on 15 Nov 2023 20:02 collapse

It’s a fork of existing software so I seriously doubt it

coffee_poops@sh.itjust.works on 15 Nov 2023 20:37 collapse

Sounds like he’s ginned up some more tax fraud to me.

BlackSkinnedJew@lemmynsfw.com on 15 Nov 2023 16:38 next collapse

LOL

unexpectedteapot@lemmy.ml on 15 Nov 2023 17:08 next collapse

73 million for a few years of a defederated Mastodon fork. Yeah, totally not fraud.

realitista@lemm.ee on 15 Nov 2023 17:30 collapse

Would make a great Russian money laundering front.

reverendsteveii@lemm.ee on 15 Nov 2023 17:38 next collapse

eh, the next filing will show that it made $200 billion. The one after that will insist that it never existed in the first place.

mojo@lemm.ee on 15 Nov 2023 18:02 next collapse

Wtf did that money even get spent on? They just used mastodon code, so they needed like one or two coders. Traffic was shit so it can’t be that much for hosting.

Joker@discuss.tchncs.de on 15 Nov 2023 19:40 collapse

$23M of the loss is from the first half of this year. There was a $10M regulatory settlement and another $11M spent on “legal investigations”, which covers the bulk of that. I don’t have the time nor the inclination to really dig into it, but you can look at the filing here: www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/000184963…

They lost $50M last year. I haven’t looked at that filing so I don’t have a clue what they spent that on besides $5M on “legal investigations” in the first half.

This company is a total scam. It’s basically a slush fund for Trump. What would probably be more of a bombshell than the spending is where the money is coming from. It’s all but guaranteed that it’s primarily foreign money. Probably also some rich MAGA wackadoos buying influence.

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org on 15 Nov 2023 22:22 collapse

This news makes me wanna create an account and set automation to reload over and over just to cost a bit more electricity. But I’ve got better things to do.