The CEO of Donald Trumpâs social media empire was branded a âproverbial loserâ whom the former president âwould have fired on the Apprenticeâ by a trading firm owned by the billionaire Republican donor Ken Griffin on Friday.
In an extraordinary statement, Citadel Securities accused Devin Nunes, chief executive of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), of trying to deflect blame for the companyâs recent stock market woes. TMTG hit back claiming Citadel was âworld famous for screwing overâ small investors.
Hours earlier, it emerged that Nunes â a former Republican congressman who resigned two years ago to run TMTG â had written to the head of New Yorkâs Nasdaq stock exchange to raise âpotential market manipulationâ of the groupâs stock.
Shares in TMTG, which owns Trumpâs Truth Social social network, have come under sustained pressure since enjoying a stunning market debut last month. They have rallied in recent days, however, in volatile trading.
In a letter on Thursday to Nasdaq, Nunes suggested so-called ânakedâ short-selling was behind the market turbulence that has plagued TMTG â and named several large trading firms, including Citadel Securities, which he claimed were behind most of the trading.
Short selling is a way of betting against a public company. An investor borrows a stock, and then sells it on; should the stock then drop, the investor then buys it back and pockets the difference.
So-called ânakedâ short-selling is selling a stock without first borrowing it, or determining if it can be borrowed. It is generally illegal in the US, as Nunes noted in his letter.
âDevin Nunes is the proverbial loser who tries to blame ânaked short-sellingâ for his falling stock price,â a spokesperson for Citadel Securities said. âNunes is exactly the type of person Donald Trump would have fired on the Apprentice. If he worked for Citadel Securities, we would fire him, as ability and integrity are at the center of everything we do.â
Trump Media said: âCitadel Securities, a corporate behemoth that has been fined and censured for an incredibly wide range of offenses including issues related to naked short-selling, and is world famous for screwing over everyday retail investors at the behest of other corporations, is the last company on earth that should lecture anyone on âintegrityâ.â
Shares in TMTG rose 9.6% on Friday.