What to Know About Trump Media Stock and Shareholders as Lockup Expires

Former President Donald J. Trump and a handful of other investors are finally going to be able to do what they want with shares in the parent company of Truth Social — the social media platform that has become Mr. Trump’s main online megaphone.

A lockup agreement that had barred those investors from selling their shares expires at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. The six-month lockup, which applied to all large shareholders of Trump Media & Technology Group, had been in place since the social media company completed its merger with a cash-rich public shell company.

In early trading on Thursday, Trump Media’s shares fell 4 percent.

Investors have been focused mostly on Mr. Trump’s plans for his stock. Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, said last week that he had no intention of selling his shares. His major stake in the company, 115 million shares, is worth close to $1.8 billion, and his involvement with Truth Social is critical to its future.

But other large investors, who collectively control more than 20 million shares, may well begin selling once the lockup expires. They include two contestants from “The Apprentice” who helped start Trump Media and a group of early investors in the shell company that Trump Media merged with in March.

Even with Mr. Trump holding tight to his shares, the company’s stock price could slide if those other investors sell. The stock is already down more than 76 percent from its post-merger high six months ago.

Here’s how any sizable sale would work, and why it has drawn so much interest.