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Christopher Ruddy, a right -of -right media newspaper and longtime friend of Donald Trump, became a multi -loving after the actions of Newsmax continued to increase after his public debut on Monday – an improbable result for a cable television channel at a loss.
Ruddy's Newsmax's shares closed 179% more at $ 233 on Tuesday. This has brought the gains of the stock since their Nyse launch at more than 2,200%, in an echo of the “Menia of Memes” which seized American actions Markets in 2021.
The conservative television company, which Ruddy founded in 1998, had a market capitalization of more than $ 20 billion on Tuesday – despite regulatory documents showing that Newsmax lost $ 72 million out of $ 171 million in revenues last year.
Ruddy, a former New York Post journalist who frequented Trump's Mar-A-Lago Golf Resort, has 39.2 million class A class A shares in Newsmax, assessing his shares at $ 9.1 billion. The company has collected $ 75 million in its A + regulation offer – which is delivered with less expensive regulatory charges than a traditional Initial public import – as well as $ 225 million in a private private offer that closed in February.
Newsmax has promoted the public list on the air on its viewers, displaying chyron exhors to “be the owner of Newsmax!” In a editorial Published on his website last July, Ruddy told readers: “We hope hundreds of thousands of Americans like you will be co -owners of Newsmax”, leading them to buy actions via “Newsmaxinvest.com”.
Ruddy wrote: “Newsmax increases because Americans like you are tired of an incredible media bias, now reaching a dangerous level.”
The Newsmax list has provided a windfall to investors, including a billionaire republican donor Thomas PeterffyWho like Ruddy lives in Palm Beach, Florida, near Mar-A-Lago.
The improbable enthusiasm for a company that earns most of its cable television money, a long -term decline company, has aroused the concern of Peterffy.
He told the Financial Times that he had been “amazed” by the Newsmax to gunning up. “I think Newsmax is a big business and will have a very brilliant future, but I think that does not guarantee this high price,” said Peterffy. The company has scored its shares at a price of $ 10.
Peterffy has more than 23 million class B Newsmax. “I saw that there would be a great need for another – next to Fox News – there would be a big demand for an additional and somewhat different conservative channel,” said Peterffy.
Other investors who behave to make major skills include the Sheikh Sultan Bin Jassim Al-Thani, member of the Royal Family Qatari, who was adviser to the Emirate Gas-Gas Minister. It has nearly 20 million shares worth almost $ 4.7 billion, according to securities documents.
Newsmax, like Fox News, was prosecuted by the technological voting companies Dominion and Smartmatic for their alleged involvement in the spread of election denial in 2020. Last year, Newsmax settled with Smartmatic, agreeing to pay $ 40 million. However, the Dominion trial should start a trial with jury later this year. Newsmax denies any reprehensible act.
In March, the company added Alex Acosta, the former work secretary during the first term of Trump, to his board of directors. Acosta resigned from his post in 2019 after the Miami Herald revealed that he had concluded a romantic agreement with the deceased financial in disgrace Jeffrey Epstein while he was acting as an American lawyer in Florida.
Certain hedge funds have bet against Newsmax, paying a high interest rate to borrow its shares in anticipation that its shares will fall quickly. One Hedge Fund told Financial Times that he thought that the stock would decrease in the coming days while retail investors who participated in the list would seek to lock significant profits.
When asked if he would sell his actions in six months, Peterffy said he was not sure. “We never decide that an investment goes up before the moment.”
The solid beginnings of Newsmax occur while several much larger groups have endured disappointing departures as public companies in recent weeks, increased by broader concerns concerning the slowdown in economic growth of the United States.
The Tuesday of Newsmax evaluation of $ 20 billion is compared to the market capitalization of $ 24 billion in Fox Corp – even if Fox generated $ 14 billion in revenues in the year 2024, against only $ 171 million for Newsmax.
Ruddy did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
This story has been modified to specify that Sheikh Sultan was not the Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar, but an adviser to the Emirate Deputy Prime Minister
