Trump Media’s Misery Deepens as Top Execs Depart
Senior executives at Donald Trump’s media company have left the business following mismanagement accusations made against its CEO, according to a report.
The Truth Social parent company, whose stock cratered to its lowest point ever last week, confirmed the resignation of chief operating officer Andrew Northwall in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday. According to ProPublica, the company has also parted ways with its chief product officer and two lower-level employees in the wake of an anonymous “whistleblower” complaint about its CEO, former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).
Trump Media Stock Falls to New Low Just as Trump Can Sell His Shares
Sources told ProPublica the complaint concerns Nunes’ alleged mismanagement, which one person said involved “allegations of misuse of funds, hiring of foreign contractors and interfering with product development.” The ouster of the staffers is believed to be retaliation after the complaint made it to the company’s board of directors, according to people involved in the business.
A spokesperson for Trump Media didn’t answer the outlet’s specific questions but said in a statement that ProPublica’s inquiry to the business “utterly fabricates implications of improper and even illegal conduct that have no basis in reality.”
“This story is the fifth consecutive piece in an increasingly absurd campaign by ProPublica, likely at the behest of political interest groups, to damage TMTG based on false and defamatory allegations and vague innuendo,” the statement read, adding that Trump Media “strictly adheres to all laws and applicable regulations.”
According to ProPublica, Trump Media brought in a lawyer to investigate and interview staffers after the allegations were made about Nunes. Some of the employees the attorney spoke to were notified last week that they were being pushed out, a source told the outlet. They reportedly included Northwall, chief product officer Sandro De Moraes, a product designer, and an HR director.
The source claimed the departing staffers were asked to sign a deal promising not to publicly make claims of wrongdoing against Trump Media in exchange for severance.
In a Truth Social post Thursday, Northwall said he’d “decided to resign” from his role and looked forward to “focusing more on my family and returning to my entrepreneurial journey, where my heart truly lies.” Separately, De Moraes’ bio on the platform now says: “Former Chief Product Officer @truthsocial.”
Truth Social was created by the former president following his ban from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump Media, which operates the platform, has since struggled with revenue, losing almost $58.2 million last year while only making $4.1 million in revenue, according to the Associated Press.
The company started trading publicly this year, and its share price has fluctuated in recent months. The stock hit a high of $79.38 after making its debut on the Nasdaq in March before plunging to a low of $12.15 late last month—just as Trump, who owns around 60 percent of the company’s stock, became able to start selling his shares.
The price fell below $16 at the open on Friday.
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