A co-founder of Truth Social’s media parent company was forced off the board of the firm after he ignored demands by Donald Trump to gift a few of his stock to Melania Trump, a whistleblower has told The Washington Post.
Trump pushed for the giveaway to his wife despite the fact that he had already been given 90% of the stock within the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in exchange for the usage of his name and another “minor involvement,” former company executive Will Wilkerson told the Post.
The corporate co-founder reportedly dodged the request, telling Trump that it would depart him with a tax bill he couldn’t pay. “Do whatever it’s essential do,” Trump snapped back, in response to Wilkerson.
He was forced off the board five months later in what Wilkerson believes was payback for failing to show over a “small fortune” to Melania Trump, the newspaper reported Saturday.
The incident was one among a series of bombshell revelations supported by several documents viewed by the newspaper about bitter infighting within the Trump business, technical screwups, questionable financial representations, and what Wilkerson insisted were violations of Securities and Exchange regulations, in response to the Post.
Wilkerson submitted a whistleblower criticism to the Securities and Exchange Commission in August regarding the corporate. Wilkerson’s attorney’s told the newspaper that he can also be cooperating with current investigations into Trump Media by the SEC and by federal prosecutors from the Southern District of Latest York.
Wilkerson was fired from his job Thursday as TMTG senior vice chairman of operations after he spoke to The Post.
Trump Media said in an announcement responding to several specific questions from the Post regarding Wilkerson’s information that Trump as company chairman had hired former California Republican congressman Devin Nunes as CEO to “create a culture of compliance and construct a world-class team to guide Truth Social.”
The statement complained that the Post “sent us an inquiry rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas.”
It didn’t specifically address any of the Post’s questions, in response to the newspaper.
The brand new information follows a lengthening list of bad news for Trump’s Truth Social and media enterprise.
Digital World Acquisition Corp. — the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that Truth Social must go public — revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last month that investors had already backed out of $139 million in commitments of the $1 billion previously announced by the corporate.
There’s likely more to return. Investors, who agreed to place up the cash nearly a 12 months ago, can now drop their commitments because Digital World missed its initial Sept. 20 deadline to merge with Trump Media. That deadline was prolonged by three months after shareholders refused to approve its bid for a 12-month extension. But investors can still pull out.
A significant web-hosting operator complained in August that Truth Social owed about $1.6 million in contractually obligated payments, an allegation suggesting the operation’s funds are in “significant disarray,” Fox Business News reported.
Trump insisted last month that he was unconcerned about any Truth Social money woes because, he explained, “I’m really wealthy,” he posted on the social media platform. “I don’t need financing.”
Yet in the subsequent sentence he asked: “Private company, anyone???” in what seemed to be an invite to investors.
