In the trading session on July 15, right after Mr. Donald Trump was assassinated, shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (Nasdaq: DJT) of the family of former US President Donald Trump skyrocketed 60-70%, before closing up 9.69 USD (equivalent to 31.4%) to 40.58 USD/share.

The surge in Trump Media shares immediately added $1.1 billion to Donald Trump's fortune.

Mr. Trump currently owns 65% of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, equivalent to 123 million shares. With this breakthrough, Trump Media's total capitalization increased to more than 7.7 billion USD.

Trump Media is a business owned by Donald Trump, founded in 2021 and operates the social network Truth Social, which Trump founded earlier. DJT shares were worth $91 in February 2022.

DJT was later listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a merger with a shell company (SPAC) in March 2024. In its first trading session on March 1, DJT reached $79.38 per share before closing at nearly $62 per share.

At that price, DJT has a market capitalization of about $11.7 billion, of which Mr. Trump owns $7.6 billion.

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Former US President Donald Trump. Photo: Fox News

However, DJT then fell sharply, at times falling below $33/share, amid warnings from Wall Street experts that the stock was overvalued compared to the low revenue and profit base of the social network management company Truth Social.

Trump Media shares have surged again thanks to Donald Trump's advantages in the election process, especially after his assassination attempt on July 13. Investors are betting on the possibility that Trump will win the US presidential election in November.

Trump's fortune fluctuates dramatically

Trump Media is just one business in the Donald Trump ecosystem. The former US president has a long history of business and was a billionaire before becoming the 45th US president for the 2017-2021 term.

Mr. Trump has many real estate assets, including Trump Tower, a 58-story building at 721-725 Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Trump Tower is used as the headquarters of The Trump Organization.

According to Forbes, as of July 15, Mr. Trump had assets of 6.5 billion USD, an increase of 1.1 billion USD compared to the previous session and ranked 450th in the list of USD billionaires globally.

However, Mr. Trump was removed from the list of the 500 richest people on the planet according to Bloomberg's ranking since April 9. The reason is because Trump Media's stock increased sharply after listing and then fell rapidly.

This was also the time when a New York state appeals court judge rejected Mr. Trump's request to postpone the criminal trial on the accusation that he paid a hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. Mr. Trump was also facing criminal charges in three other cases, including conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election leading to the riot at Capitol Hill in 2021, interference in the Georgia state election and illegal retention of classified documents after leaving the White House.

Earlier, in mid-February, Mr. Trump’s assets also dropped after the New York Court fined him nearly $355 million for intentional financial fraud over a decade and banned him from doing business for three years. On February 17, according to Forbes’ estimate, Mr. Trump had assets worth $2.6 billion.

At the end of 2016, when he was elected president, Mr. Trump had assets of about 3.7 billion USD. He declared that he only received a salary of 1 USD a year, like former Presidents John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover.

Recently, Mr. Trump's assets have increased rapidly again following the stock price of Trump Media and positive signals in the race to the White House for the second time.

In the United States, large corporations have different support for presidential candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties. The policy impact and benefits for corporations also vary greatly.

According to CNB, legendary investor Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, saw his investment portfolio explode in value, adding several billion dollars, at the end of 2016 when Mr. Trump unexpectedly won the election. Mr. Warren Buffett was a supporter of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton but “earned a lot” thanks to the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Financial and banking stocks also rose sharply after the election, with investors expecting that industry regulations would be loosened under President Trump.

Donald Trump's assassination attempt, gold benefits from increased risks Gold is expected to benefit and trend up amid increased risks after former US President Donald Trump was shot by a suspect at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.