DOVER, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware has ruled in favor of a company that wants assurances it can sell its minority stake in former President Donald Trump’s parent company. Truth Social Platform.
The judge on Friday granted summary judgment in favor of Florida-based United Atlantic Ventures LLC in a lawsuit filed against Minnesota-based Odyssey Transfer and Trust Co., a company that handles securities transfers between registered shareholders.
UAV is owned by Andrew Litinsky and Wesley Moss, former contestants on Trump’s TV show, “The Apprentice,” who also helped facilitate a merger that Trump Media Made Public in march.
Since then, UAV and Trump Media fought in the courts in both Delaware and Florida over UAV’s stake in the company. Trump Media attorneys earlier this year assured a Delaware state judge that UAV was entitled to an 8.6% stake and would not suffer merger-related dilution. However, they now claim that UAV is not entitled to its shares due to pre-merger mismanagement by Litinsky and Moss.
Friday’s ruling is based on UAV’s concerns that it won’t receive its Trump Media shares, currently valued at about $350 million, from Odyssey when the post-merger lock-up period expires on Sept. 19. According to court documents, Odyssey told UAV earlier this year that it would follow instructions from TMTG and its lawyers.
After Odyssey filed a lawsuit, the parties appeared to have reached a resolution, with Odyssey saying it would lift the transfer restrictions on the stock after the lockup period expired, “without priority to any TMTG shareholder.” However, after seeking approval from Trump Media, Odyssey attempted to change that wording to “on the same basis as other similarly situated TMTG shareholders.”
Trump owns approximately 115 million shares of TMTG, representing about 60% of the company’s outstanding shares.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Williams questioned Odyssey’s conduct, noting that Odyssey claimed the language change was “immaterial” while disrupting settlement negotiations.
“Odyssey’s conduct has been elusive even outside of settlement negotiations,” Williams wrote.
Williams ordered that if Odyssey is notified by TMTG of the expiration of the lock-up provisions, the company must immediately notify UAV, lift the transfer restrictions on all shares and not interfere with the delivery of the shares.
from TMTG stock price reached a high of $79.38 on its first day of trading, but is now hovering around $17, closing at $17.10 on Friday.