Former President Donald Trump's media business is taking legal action against two of its co-founders, who were also participants on Trump's reality show "The Apprentice," asserting that they mishandled the business and should be divested of their shares in the recently public company.
The legal complaint was submitted on March 24 in Florida state court, just a day before Trump Media & Technology Group premiered on the Nasdaq stock market. Trump Media, with its primary asset being the emerging social media platform Truth Social, surged in its initial two days of trading and presently holds a valuation of approximately $6.8 billion.
The lawsuit by Trump Media & Technology Group alleges that the co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, "failed spectacularly" in establishing the business and forming an efficient corporate governance framework. Initially, as per their agreement with Trump, the co-founders were granted 8.6 million shares of Trump Media, presently assessed at $432 million, which the lawsuit aims to retrieve.
The lawsuit also faults Litinsky and Moss for Truth Social's rough start, contending that they enlisted an "inadequate" team to oversee the social media platform's development and fostered a "toxic corporate culture."
"The Truth Social launch did not go smoothly, leading a hostile press to criticize the company for long user wait times and technical failings, to the detriment of the company's business reputation," the lawsuit claims.
Litinsky and Moss' attorney, Christopher J. Clark, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Trump Media's filing follows a complaint filed in February in the Delaware Court of Chancery by Litinsky and Moss that seeks to prevent the former president from taking steps the two said would sharply reduce their combined 8.6% stake in Trump Media.
Trump, meanwhile, owns about 57% of Trump Media, a stake that is valued at about $4 billion — at least on paper — based on today's stock price. Trump and other top shareholders are currently under a "lock up" provision that bars them from selling shares for at least six months.
