Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, has filed a lawsuit in Sarasota County, Florida, against its co-founders, Wesley Moss and Andrew Litinsky. The lawsuit accuses Moss and Litinsky of failing to successfully launch the company and attempting to obstruct the deal. Trump Media is seeking to prevent Moss and Litinsky from appointing members to the board or owning shares in the company. Moss and Litinsky are claiming an 8.6% stake in the company under a 2021 agreement with a company they founded, United Atlantic Ventures, LLC.
In February, Moss and Litinsky filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court over their stake in Trump Media. The lawsuit in Florida was filed around the same time that shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. approved a merger with Trump Media, which resulted in the company going public under the ticker DJT. The share price surged initially but fell after Trump Media disclosed a net loss of $58.2 million in 2023. The lawsuit by Trump Media is seeking damages for what it alleges are breaches of fiduciary duty by Moss and Litinsky, as well as co-defendant Patrick Orlando, founder of DWAC.
The lawsuit claims that Moss and Litinsky were responsible for establishing Trump Media’s corporate governance structure, launching Truth Social, and finding a shell company for the public merger. Trump Media alleges that Moss and Litinsky made wasteful decisions that damaged the company and caused a decline in DWAC’s stock price. Despite a conflict with DWAC, Moss and Litinsky pursued a merger with Benessere Capital Acquisition Corp., which led to an investigation by the SEC. The lawsuit also accuses Moss and Litinsky of retaliating against Trump Media by suing the company before the merger vote.
Trump Media disputes the claim that UAV is owed stock and argues that the 2021 agreement signed by Trump with UAV is no longer valid. The lawsuit alleges that Eric Trump declared the agreement void in a letter to UAV following concerns raised by Trump’s representatives in July 2021, and UAV allegedly accepted this decision. Lawyers for Trump Media have not responded to requests for comment on the lawsuit, and Moss and Litinsky were not immediately available for contact. The legal battle between Trump Media and its co-founders highlights the challenges faced by the company as it navigates its public debut and seeks to establish itself in the media industry.
