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The Finance Base
Andy Litinsky

Why Trump Media Sued Truth Social Co-Founders Over Their Shares

TMTG’s Florida suit sought to strip shares from Truth Social co-founders Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss. A separate Delaware ruling did not decide that case.

By TheFinanceBase Team 3 min read
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Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), Truth Social’s parent company, sued co-founders Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss and their company, United Atlantic Ventures (UAV), in Florida on March 24, 2024. TMTG asked the court to strip or forfeit their shares, alleging they mishandled the company’s formation and public-listing effort and later tried to impede the transaction. That Florida case is separate from a Delaware lawsuit brought by UAV; the Delaware court dismissed claims in that case, but that ruling did not decide TMTG’s Florida suit.

Why did Trump Media sue the co-founders?

TMTG’s Florida complaint argued that Litinsky and Moss should lose their shares because, according to the company, they mishandled the company’s setup and attempt to go public and later tried to obstruct the transaction. Those are allegations by TMTG, not findings established by the Delaware court. The Associated Press and Bloomberg Law reported on the filing and claims in March and April 2024 (Associated Press; Bloomberg Law).

The dispute grew out of a services agreement made in February 2021. According to the Delaware Court of Chancery’s account, Trump hired UAV to consult on TMTG’s launch in exchange for an 8.6% stake. UAV’s work included positioning the company for access to public markets and identifying Digital World Acquisition Corp. as a merger partner (Delaware Court of Chancery opinion).

What does the 8.6% figure mean?

The agreement contemplated 8.6 million shares for UAV out of 100 million shares contemplated for Legacy TMTG. The 8.6% describes that agreement-level stake and denominator; it should not be treated as a current ownership percentage after the public-company merger or later capitalization changes. TMTG completed its public listing through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. in March 2024 (Delaware Court of Chancery opinion).

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How are the Florida and Delaware lawsuits different?

The cases involved the same underlying share dispute but had different plaintiffs, claims, venues and procedural outcomes.

Case Who sued whom What was at issue Known result
Florida TMTG sued UAV, Litinsky and Moss on March 24, 2024. TMTG sought to strip or forfeit the founders’ shares, alleging problems with company formation, governance and the listing process, along with efforts to impede the transaction. The sources available here do not establish the case’s final disposition.
Delaware UAV brought a case in February 2024 against TMTG and related defendants. UAV claimed planned additional share issuance threatened its interest and challenged a merger lock-up. The court dismissed the lock-up claims and dismissed the remaining services-agreement claims without prejudice because the agreement selected Florida for agreement-related claims. It did not decide TMTG’s separate Florida suit.

The Delaware Court of Chancery declined to reach the defendants’ presidential-immunity argument. Its opinion describes the matter as a dispute arising from a “soured business relationship” between UAV and TMTG (Delaware Court of Chancery opinion).

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Will the co-founders lose their shares?

The Delaware ruling does not answer that question: it resolved claims in UAV’s Delaware case, not TMTG’s Florida request to forfeit shares. The sources cited here do not establish a final judgment, settlement or dismissal in Florida, so they cannot establish whether the founders ultimately kept or lost the disputed shares.

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How should 2024 share-value figures be read?

Contemporaneous coverage reported different share and company values because the figures reflected different dates and volatile market prices. They are historical snapshots, not current valuations or fixed measures of the founders’ stake.

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  • The Associated Press reported a $51.60 closing share price on April 3, 2024, and an approximately $5.9 billion company valuation that day (Associated Press).
  • CBS News reported an estimated $432 million value for the co-founders’ shares in its April 3, 2024 coverage; that estimate depended on the share price at the time (CBS News).
  • Bloomberg Law reported that Trump Media disclosed a $58 million loss for 2023. That is a historical company loss, not a valuation of UAV’s shares (Bloomberg Law).

These figures answer different questions and should not be combined into a current estimate of what the shares are worth.

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