Trump Media says it lost more than $400 million last year

NEW YORK (AP) — The parent company of President Donald Trump’s social networking site Truth Social says it lost $400.9 million last year and its annual revenue declined 12% to $3.6 million.

Trump Media & Technology Group reported its earnings late Friday, blaming the losses in part on a revenue-sharing agreement with an undisclosed advertising partner.

After winning the U.S. presidential election in November, Trump in December transferred all of his shares — worth around $4 billion on paper — as a “bona fide gift” to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Trump’s shares amounted to more than half of the company’s stock.

Donald Trump Jr., the oldest of the president's five children, is the sole trustee and has sole voting and investment power over all securities owned by the trust.

Trump created Truth Social after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Citing its “early development stage,” the parent company based in Sarasota, Florida, said it doesn’t report “traditional key performance indicators” used by other social media companies, such as how many people have signed up for the service, use it on a daily or monthly basis or see its ads.

Trump Media became publicly traded last March after merging with a shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., an example of what’s called a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, which can give young companies quicker and easier routes to getting their shares trading publicly.