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 & Expertise Group, the previous president’s social media firm.
“Religion comes from listening to — that’s, listening to the excellent news about Christ,” mentioned Mr. Nedohin, 40, his face framed by faux dreadlocks below 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 might begin promoting inventory on Wall Road. Quickly the information about Trump Media arrived through an audio feed: It was going public.
Mr. Nedohin raised his arms in celebration. A couple of minutes later, he minimize to a video of a rocket blasting into the sky, with Mr. Trump photoshopped onto it. “We’re holding Trump shares,” he declared. “We are actually monetary buyers in him.”
Mr. Nedohin is considered one of lots of of hundreds of newbie buyers who personal shares of Trump Media, satisfied that its sole platform, Reality Social, will turn out to be one of many world’s hottest and worthwhile social media websites. In current months, tens of hundreds of Trump followers have tuned into Mr. Nedohin’s webcasts, the place he exhorts viewers to put money into the corporate, arguing that “Trump all the time wins in the long term.”
The passion from Mr. Nedohin and different Trump supporters has turned Trump Media into the most recent “meme inventory,” pushed extra by web hype than enterprise fundamentals. Within the public markets, these newbie buyers have discovered themselves pitted towards skilled brief sellers, specialist buyers who wager that shares will fail, in addition to frantic day merchants searching for a fast revenue.
In consequence, Trump Media’s inventory value has swung wildly, typically dropping as a lot as 18 % or rising as a lot as 28 % in a single day. The corporate is “a meme inventory 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 might add lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to his paper wealth — or vaporize it.
A Canadian citizen, Mr. Nedohin can’t vote for Mr. Trump in November. However 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 Company, 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.
As soon as the merger was last on March 25, Trump Media started buying and selling on Wall Road, and the unique Digital World shares have been transformed into Trump Media inventory below the ticker DJT.
Mr. Nedohin mentioned he had held on to his shares and didn’t plan to promote. On the livestream, he interacts with viewers who use display screen names like GOATPOTUS, urging them to maintain the religion even when costs fall. “Don’t freak out,” he mentioned on a current present.
Reality Social “has the potential to simply eclipse Twitter,” the app now often called X, Mr. Nedohin mentioned in an interview. “I’m not involved about my funding in any respect.”
Mr. Nedohin doesn’t just like the time period “meme inventory” and prefers “populist retail funding.” But when he’s improper about his wager, the monetary influence on his viewers and Trump Media’s different buyers may very well be devastating, given the dangers of those unstable shares.
By conventional metrics, Trump Media will not be a profitable enterprise. The corporate reported $4 million in income final 12 months and $58 million in losses. In contrast with mainstream social websites, Reality Social has a minuscule viewers — 1.5 million individuals visited the location final month, in response to knowledge from Similarweb, a small fraction of the 75 million who logged on to X.
Nonetheless, loyal buyers like Mr. Nedohin are one motive 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 keenness 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 lots of of hundreds of on a regular basis American retail buyers,” Shannon Devine, a Trump Media spokeswoman, mentioned in an e-mail.
From his dwelling in Edmonton, Alberta, Mr. Nedohin works as an engineer, calculating mechanical stress on pipes. However his ardour is ministry: Though not ordained, he mentioned, 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 unique Christian songs, a few of which have performed on Canadian radio.
Earlier than Reality Social, he mentioned, he typically posted on Fb however by no means received a lot traction. He craved an alternate.
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, Reality Social went reside, 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 Reality Social account in Could 2022 and shortly discovered a group that shared his two principal pursuits: Christianity and Digital World’s inventory.
“I’ve by no means met such an incredible group of people who find themselves so completely satisfied to have freedom of speech,” he mentioned.
However Reality Social was glitchy, and Mr. Trump took months to put up his first message. In 2022, the 2 “Apprentice” contestants left Trump Media after the Securities and Change Fee opened an investigation into the Digital World merger.
That inquiry delayed Trump Media’s plans to go public, and the worth of Digital World’s inventory dropped. Mr. Nedohin was involved. However within the spring of 2022, he mentioned, he acquired a message from God.
“You ask him to maneuver a mountain, and typically he arms you a shovel,” Mr. Nedohin mentioned. This time, he mentioned, “that little voice inside” advised him to begin a podcast.
Mr. Nedohin began the Rumble present, “DWAC’d Stay!” — a reference to Digital World’s inventory image. On the present, he tried to mobilize Reality 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 mentioned, calling himself “Captain DWAC” on the livestream. On Reality 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 Stay!” final 12 months.
“Just remember to assist get the phrase on the market,” Mr. Swider mentioned on the present, including that “we’re very, very grateful to your help.”
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 accredited final month. Mr. Nedohin was ecstatic.
However the drop in Trump Media’s share value has induced consternation on-line, with some Reality Social customers complaining that they’ve misplaced cash. A lot of the frustration has been directed at brief sellers.
Trump Media posted directions for shareholders on its web site explaining how one can forestall brokerage corporations from lending shares to brief sellers. Final 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 might “get harm very badly.”
“As a Christian, I don’t imagine in shorting,” Mr. Nedohin mentioned. “I imagine in solely constructing for the optimistic.”
He stays totally dedicated to Reality Social. In the course of the S.E.C. protest, he mentioned, he returned to X, hoping to lift consciousness concerning the marketing campaign. Now that Trump Media is a public firm, “I’ll by no means want to achieve any of the individuals which might be on there,” he mentioned.
As his livestream ended, Mr. Nedohin deleted his X account.
Audio produced by Adrienne Hurst.
