Shares in Donald Trump’s media company were down more than 6 per cent in after-hours trading on Thursday, after the former president was found guilty in a historic criminal trial in New York.
A jury convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election. Ms Daniels says that they had a sexual encounter in 2006, which Trump denies.
The verdict marks the first time in US history a president has been criminally convicted, and Trump could be facing the prospect of prison time at the same time as he campaigns in the 2024 presidential election.
The slump is the latest round of bad news for the Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of the former president’s social network Truth Social.
The company reported a $327.6m first-quarter loss this month, sending Trump Media and Technology Group’s stock plunging by 13.2 per cent at one point.
The drop personally cost the former president, more than $766m, according to an analysis from The Independent.
The stock has seen other precipitous declines in recent months, including an over 18 per cent drop the day that the former president’s hush money trial began.
Mr Trump will be hoping both his legal fate and his financial one improve in the coming months.
In early May, he was awarded $1.8bn worth of additional “earnout shares” in the company.
