Truth Social Exec Forced Off Board After Ignoring Trump Demand: Report
A co-founder of Truth Social’s media parent company was forced off the board of the firm after he ignored demands by Donald Trump to give some of his stock to Melania Trump, a whistleblower has told The Washington Post.
Trump pushed for the giveaway to his wife even though he had already been given 90% of the stock in the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in exchange for the use of his name and some other “minor involvement,” former company executive Will Wilkerson told the Post.
The company co-founder reportedly dodged the request, telling Trump that it would leave him with a tax bill he couldn’t pay. “Do whatever you need to do,” Trump snapped back, according to Wilkerson.
He was forced off the board five months later in what Wilkerson believes was payback for failing to turn over a “small fortune” to Melania Trump, the newspaper reported Saturday.
The incident was one of a series of bombshell revelations supported by several documents viewed by the newspaper about bitter infighting in the Trump business, technical screwups, questionable financial representations, and what Wilkerson insisted were violations of Securities and Exchange regulations, according to the Post.
Wilkerson submitted a whistleblower complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission in August regarding the company. Wilkerson’s attorney’s told the newspaper that he is also cooperating with current investigations into Trump Media by the SEC and by federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York.
Wilkerson was fired from his job Thursday as TMTG senior vice president of operations after he spoke to The Post.
Trump Media said in a statement responding to several specific questions from the Post regarding Wilkerson’s information that Trump as company chairman had hired former California Republican Congressman Devin Nunes as CEO to “create a culture of compliance and build a world-class team to lead Truth Social.”
The statement complained that the Post “sent us an inquiry rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas.”
It did not specifically address any of the Post’s questions, according to the newspaper.
The new information follows a lengthening list of bad news for Trump’s Truth Social media venture.
Digital World Acquisition Corp. — the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that Truth Social needs to go public — revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last month that investors had already backed out of $139 million in commitments of the $1 billion previously announced by the company.
There’s likely more to come. Investors, who agreed to put up the money nearly a year ago, can now drop their commitments because Digital World missed its initial Sept. 20 deadline to merge with Trump Media. That deadline was extended by three months after shareholders refused to approve its bid for a 12-month extension. But investors can still pull out.
A major web-hosting operator complained in August that Truth Social owed about $1.6 million in contractually obligated payments, an allegation suggesting the operation’s finances are in “significant disarray,” Fox Business News reported.
In another setback, Truth Social’s application for a trademark was turned down in August because its name was too similar to other operations.
Trump insisted last month that he was unconcerned about any Truth Social money woes because, he explained, “I’m really rich,” he posted on the social media platform. “I don’t need financing.”
Yet in the next sentence he asked: “Private company, anyone???” in what appeared to be an invitation to investors.
Check out the full Washington Post story.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
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A co-founder of the firm behind Truth Social says Trump retaliated against another exec who refused to gift some of his shares to Melania
Kelsey Vlamis
Sat, October 15, 2022
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump stand onstage during a "Salute to America" event on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in Washington.
Will Wilkerson, co-founder of Trump's media company, filed an SEC whistleblower complaint in August.
Wilkerson detailed several allegations about the company to The Washington Post.
An email obtained by the Post showed another co-founder believed Trump was retaliating against him.
A co-founder of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, said former President Donald Trump pushed another executive to give some of his shares to Melania Trump and retaliated when the request was declined, according to a Washington Post report.
Will Wilkerson, who filed a whistleblower complaint about the company to the SEC in August, made the allegation in a story published by the outlet on Saturday. The Post, which obtained materials submitted with Wilkerson's complaint, detailed accusations of infighting and potentially illegal activity at the company.
Trump had been given a 90% stake in the company when it was founded, according to the SEC complaint. But Wilkerson told the Post he was with fellow co-founder Andy Litinsky in October 2021 when the latter received a call from Trump. At the time, the company had recently reached a merger deal that would catapult the value of its stock. Wilkerson said the former president asked Litinsky to give some of his shares to Melania Trump.
Wilkerson told the Post that Litinsky demurred and explained the gift would result in a tax bill he would be unable to pay: "Trump didn't care. He said, 'Do whatever you need to do.'"
Litinsky, a former contestant on "The Apprentice," was removed from the company's board five months later in what Wilkerson believed was retaliation. According to a March email obtained by the Post, Litinsky also believed he had been retaliated against.
"President Trump over the past 2 months has repeatedly demanded that I give my TMTG equity to Melania Trump," Litinsky wrote, according to a screenshot of the email published by the Post. "As I have informed him several times, I have earned that equity, and also 'gifting' equity to Melania Trump would be a taxable event of which I can't afford to pay the taxes."
Litinsky also said Trump had threatened to "blow up the company" if his demands weren't met, adding he believed Trump was now "retaliating" against him and that he'd be seeking legal counsel, according to the screenshot of the email.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Litinsky did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent via his consulting and production company, ZideLitinsky Media.
In a statement provided to Insider, a representative for Trump Media & Technology Group blasted the Post's reporting and touted Truth Social's successes.
"As Chairman of TMTG, President Trump hired Devin Nunes as CEO to create a culture of compliance and build a world-class team to lead Truth Social," the statement said, noting the platform has launched on the Apple and Google app stores, attracted millions of users, and "executed multiple feature updates."
"Ignoring these achievements, the Washington Post published a story rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas," the statement continued. The statement did not comment directly on specific allegations.
Wilkerson, who was serving as senior vice president of operations, said he was fired on Thursday after talking to the Post, the outlet reported. Lawyers for Wilkerson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment but told the Post he is cooperating with the SEC and New York prosecutors investigating Trump Media.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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