Trump Media Investor Guilty of Insider Trading

A financial executive, Bruce Garelick, has been convicted of enabling his boss and others to make over $22 million illegally by trading off his tips ahead of the public announcement that an acquisition firm was taking former President Donald Trump's media company public. Garelick was convicted of tipping others in 2021 to news that the special purpose acquisition company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., was merging with Trump Media & Technology Group. Garelick sat on DWAC's board. His co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial, admitting to making over $22 million illegally.

The indictment against the men did not implicate Trump or Trump Media & Technology Group, ( DJT ) which owns his Truth Social platform and began trading on the NASDAQ stock market on March 26. Garelick, former chief investment officer of New York-based venture capital firm Rocket One Capital LLC, was convicted of insider trading charges and is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

Garelick insisted that he did not possess any secrets about the potential merger when he bought securities in DWAC, which eventually enabled him to earn nearly $50,000 in profits.