Truth Social, the social media platform created by Donald Trump, may be worth more than X, the platform formerly known as Twitter which he used so successfully to become US President and which he has tried to replicate since being banned from it.
Shares in Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the company that owns Truth Social, increased more than 11% on Friday and 9% on Monday to close at US$51.51 (A$78.05).
This capitalises the loss-making media and technology company majority-owned by the former President and current Republican nominee for President at US$10.3 billion.
Musk, the founder of PayPal, CEO and majority owner of Tesla and founder of Spacex, paid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022. He is the world’s richest person.
However, based on the valuation of Fidelity’s minority shareholding, X may be worth $9.4 billion.
Truth Social was launched in February 2022, but faced financial and regulatory challenges.
The rise in its value has been attributed to a surge in confidence that the former president is on track to return to the Oval Office.
Truth Social's stated mission is to “end Big Tech's assault on free speech by opening up the Internet and giving the American people their voices back”.
Trump was banned from Twitter in 2021 following riots in Washington.