(Reuters) – Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group dropped 8% in premarket trading on Friday after a jury found former U.S. president Donald Trump guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
The Republican presidential candidate for this year’s election owns a majority stake in TMTG, the parent of his social media platform Truth Social. The company also provides a way for Trump supporters to bet on his resurgence as a political figure.
The 12-member New York jury pronounced Trump guilty on all the 34 felony counts he faced at the end of a five-week courtroom presentation that featured explicit testimony from porn star Stormy Daniels, making him the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
The broader market showed little impact from the verdict. Neither a criminal conviction nor a prison sentence will affect Trump’s eligibility to become president if elected.
“On balance, it is marginally negative for Trump (galvanizing his base) in this ‘least important’ of his four criminal cases,” said Grace Fan, managing director of global policy research at TS Lombard.
Trump’s net worth is tied to his stake in TMTG. He owned 64.9% of the company as of April 26.
The firm was valued at $9.2 billion as of last close. Earlier this month, TMTG said its quarterly net loss widened to $327.6 million, from $210,300 the year before.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
