One afternoon final month, Chad Nedohin, a part-time pastor and die-hard supporter of Donald J. Trump, placed on a pirate costume, arrange his microphone and recited a prayer.
Mr. Nedohin was opening his newest livestream on the right-wing video website Rumble, the place he has about 1,400 followers who share a devotion to Trump Media & Technology Group, the previous president’s social media firm.
“Faith comes from hearing — that is, hearing the good news about Christ,” stated Mr. Nedohin, 40, his face framed by pretend dreadlocks beneath a pirate-style hat.
Mr. Nedohin and his viewers have been ready for the outcomes of a merger vote that may decide whether or not Mr. Trump’s firm may begin promoting inventory on Wall Street. Soon the information about Trump Media arrived by way of an audio feed: It was going public.
Mr. Nedohin raised his arms in celebration. A couple of minutes later, he reduce to a video of a rocket blasting into the sky, with Mr. Trump photoshopped onto it. “We are holding Trump stocks,” he declared. “We are now financial investors in him.”
Mr. Nedohin is certainly one of lots of of 1000’s of novice buyers who personal shares of Trump Media, satisfied that its sole platform, Truth Social, will grow to be one of many world’s hottest and worthwhile social media websites. In current months, tens of 1000’s of Trump followers have tuned into Mr. Nedohin’s webcasts, the place he exhorts viewers to put money into the corporate, arguing that “Trump always wins in the long run.”
The enthusiasm from Mr. Nedohin and different Trump supporters has turned Trump Media into the newest “meme stock,” pushed extra by web hype than enterprise fundamentals. In the general public markets, these novice buyers have discovered themselves pitted towards skilled brief sellers, specialist buyers who wager that shares will fail, in addition to frantic day merchants in search of a fast revenue.
As a outcome, Trump Media’s inventory worth has swung wildly, generally dropping as a lot as 18 % or rising as a lot as 28 % in a single day. The firm is “a meme stock on steroids,” one analyst lately wrote.
The inventory’s unpredictable swings have main implications for Mr. Trump’s funds. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee owns greater than $4 billion in Trump Media shares, together with lately awarded bonus shares — a possible lifeline as he faces steep authorized payments tied to the circumstances towards him. The inventory’s volatility may add lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} to his paper wealth — or vaporize it.
A Canadian citizen, Mr. Nedohin can not vote for Mr. Trump in November. But he owns greater than 1,000 shares in Trump Media, that are buying and selling at about $36, down roughly 50 % from its peak in March.
Mr. Nedohin started shopping for the shares in late 2021, after Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a publicly traded shell firm, introduced plans to merge with Trump Media. Digital World was buying and selling at $93 a share on the time.
Once the merger was ultimate on March 25, Trump Media started buying and selling on Wall Street, and the unique Digital World shares have been transformed into Trump Media inventory beneath the ticker DJT.
Mr. Nedohin stated he had held on to his shares and didn’t plan to promote. On the livestream, he interacts with viewers who use display names like GOATPOTUS, urging them to maintain the religion even when costs fall. “Don’t freak out,” he stated on a current present.
Truth Social “has the potential to easily eclipse Twitter,” the app now referred to as X, Mr. Nedohin stated in an interview. “I’m not concerned about my investment whatsoever.”
Mr. Nedohin doesn’t just like the time period “meme stock” and prefers “populist retail investment.” But if he’s incorrect about his wager, the monetary impression on his viewers and Trump Media’s different buyers might be devastating, given the dangers of those unstable shares.
By conventional metrics, Trump Media will not be a profitable enterprise. The firm reported $4 million in income final 12 months and $58 million in losses. Compared with mainstream social websites, Truth Social has a minuscule viewers — 1.5 million folks visited the positioning final month, in accordance with information from Similarweb, a small fraction of the 75 million who logged on to X.
Still, loyal buyers like Mr. Nedohin are one cause Trump Media’s inventory now trades at a valuation roughly equal to that of established firms like Wendy’s and Western Union. This month, Devin Nunes, Trump Media’s chief government and a former Republican congressman, cited the passion of retail buyers as an indication of the corporate’s energy.
Any suggestion that these merchants would possibly lose cash quantities to “punching down at hundreds of thousands of everyday American retail investors,” Shannon Devine, a Trump Media spokeswoman, stated in an e-mail.
From his house in Edmonton, Alberta, Mr. Nedohin works as an engineer, calculating mechanical stress on pipes. But his ardour is ministry: Although not ordained, he stated, he has taken part-time gigs at native church buildings, main worship teams as a nondenominational lay pastor. He’s additionally a guitarist, with a portfolio of authentic Christian songs, a few of which have performed on Canadian radio.
Before Truth Social, he stated, he generally posted on Facebook however by no means received a lot traction. He craved another.
In 2021, Mr. Trump co-founded Trump Media after he was kicked off Twitter for his incendiary posts earlier than the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6. A 12 months later, Truth Social went stay, managed by two former contestants on “The Apprentice.”
Mr. Nedohin had been a fan ever since Mr. Trump glided down the escalator at Trump Tower in Manhattan to announce his 2016 marketing campaign. He considers the previous president a supporter of Christian values, and believes the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Mr. Nedohin created a Truth Social account in May 2022 and shortly discovered a neighborhood that shared his two fundamental pursuits: Christianity and Digital World’s inventory.
“I’ve never met such an amazing group of people who are so happy to have freedom of speech,” he stated.
But Truth Social was glitchy, and Mr. Trump took months to publish his first message. In 2022, the 2 “Apprentice” contestants left Trump Media after the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into the Digital World merger.
That inquiry delayed Trump Media’s plans to go public, and the value of Digital World’s inventory dropped. Mr. Nedohin was involved. But within the spring of 2022, he stated, he obtained a message from God.
“You ask him to move a mountain, and sometimes he hands you a shovel,” Mr. Nedohin stated. This time, he stated, “that little voice inside” instructed him to start out a podcast.
Mr. Nedohin began the Rumble present, “DWAC’d Live!” — a reference to Digital World’s inventory image. On the present, he tried to mobilize Truth Social’s customers, urging them to ship letters to Congress protesting the S.E.C.’s investigation.
He adopted the pirate persona to drive consideration, he stated, calling himself “Captain DWAC” on the livestream. On Truth Social, he emerged as what passes for an influencer, with 6,600 followers.
Mr. Nedohin’s advocacy received the eye of Eric Swider, a Trump Media board member and former Digital World chief government, who appeared on “DWAC’d Live!” final 12 months.
“Make sure that you help get the word out there,” Mr. Swider stated on the present, including that “we’re very, very grateful for your assistance.”
In July, Digital World settled with the S.E.C. for $18 million, paving the way in which for the merger with Trump Media to be authorized final month. Mr. Nedohin was ecstatic.
But the drop in Trump Media’s share worth has triggered consternation on-line, with some Truth Social customers complaining that they’ve misplaced cash. Much of the frustration has been directed at brief sellers.
Trump Media posted directions for shareholders on its web site explaining tips on how to stop brokerage corporations from lending shares to brief sellers. Last week, Mr. Nunes wrote a letter to the Nasdaq, the place the inventory is listed, complaining about “potential market manipulation.” He adopted that up with letters on Tuesday to the Republican chairs of a number of congressional committees. Mr. Trump beforehand warned that brief sellers may “get hurt very badly.”
“As a Christian, I don’t believe in shorting,” Mr. Nedohin stated. “I believe in only building for the positive.”
He stays absolutely dedicated to Truth Social. During the S.E.C. protest, he stated, he returned to X, hoping to lift consciousness concerning the marketing campaign. Now that Trump Media is a public firm, “I will never need to reach any of the people that are on there,” he stated.
As his livestream ended, Mr. Nedohin deleted his X account.
Audio produced by Adrienne Hurst.