Individual Investors Lose on Trump, While the Trump Family's Wealth Grows

Trump Media and Trump Coin Plunge
Trump and Donald Trump Jr. See Net Worth Increase

Donald Trump, President of the United States, made a large amount of money from various businesses over the past year, but individual investors who put their money into the Trump family suffered significant losses.

Donald Trump, President of the United States. Photo by UPI Yonhap News

On January 2 (local time), AXIOS reported that the main ways to "buy" Trump last year were to purchase shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the media, financial, and energy company he listed, or to buy the Trump family-issued cryptocurrency meme coin, Official TRUMP.

However, the share price of Trump Media (DJT) plunged by 67% by the end of the year compared to the day before Trump took office last year. In contrast, the Global X Social Media ETF (SOCL), which includes Trump Media as a constituent stock, rose by 27% over the same period. The Nasdaq index, which broadly includes technology stocks and most listed social networking service (SNS) companies, increased by 18% during the same period. If you had invested $1,000 (about 1.44 million won) in the SOCL ETF on January 19 last year, the day before Trump took office, it would have grown to $1,272 (about 1.84 million won), and if you had invested in the Nasdaq index, it would have become $1,184 (about 1.71 million won). However, if you had invested directly in Trump Media stock, it would have dropped to $331 (about 480,000 won).

Additionally, the meme coin Official TRUMP ($TRUMP) surged immediately after its launch on January 17 last year, but then quickly declined. Since January 19 last year, this coin has fallen by 89%. The world's largest meme coin, Dogecoin, dropped by 67% over the same period. According to CoinGecko, the total global cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased by 16% during this time.

If you had invested $1,000 in the total global cryptocurrency market capitalization, it would now be $842 (about 1.22 million won); if you had invested in Dogecoin, it would be $327 (about 470,000 won); and if you had invested in Official TRUMP, it would be $114 (about 160,000 won).

Thus, it is estimated that individual investors who invested in Trump and his family's related assets last year suffered significant losses, while Trump and his family actually increased their wealth.

Forbes estimated that President Trump's net worth, as a billionaire, more than doubled thanks to various cryptocurrency investment gains. It also estimated that his son, Donald Trump Jr., saw his net worth increase sixfold last year, also based on cryptocurrency profits.

Meanwhile, in May, The New York Times (NYT) reported that the Trump family and their business partners reportedly earned $320 million (about 436.6 billion won) solely from Trump Coin transaction fees.