Exclusive: Trump crypto partner may have violated SEC rules
News on the return of Donald Trump's for-profit presidency
‘Trump crypto partner may have violated SEC rules with filing on CEO’
From my latest for Forbes:
Alt5 Sigma [Nasdaq: ALTS] said its board suspended CEO Peter Tassiopoulos effective Oct. 16 without explaining the move in a filing it made with the SEC four business days later.
An internal email sent to employees on Sept. 4—six weeks earlier—says the board had placed Tassiopoulos on temporary leave by that day, according to a copy shown to Forbes by two sources close to the company.
That message, sent by Alt5 Sigma’s chief operations officer and director Ron Pitters and signed by director David Danziger, said a special board committee was investigating unspecified “certain matters concerning the company” and that chief revenue officer Vay Tham also had been placed on leave.
Under SEC rules, public companies must report within four business days when their executive officer effectively stops serving in that role, and experts told Forbes that materially false or misleading filings can violate anti-fraud laws, although establishing such a violation can be difficult.
A World Liberty Financial attorney told Forbes that Tassiopoulos remains an Alt5 Sigma employee and is also still on its board, while an Alt5 Sigma spokesperson said its board’s special committee is investigating, among other matters, a subsidiary’s legal troubles in Rwanda—where it was found criminally liable for illicit enrichment and money laundering, a verdict it is appealing while claiming it was the victim of fraud—though the company did not say whether that issue led to the executives being placed on temporary leave.
Publicly traded Alt5 Sigma accumulated $1.5 billion of World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency in August as part of a circular deal that routed more than an estimated $500 million to an entity affiliated with President Donald Trump.
There’s a lot more in there—Eric Trump’s disappearing board seat! Details about Rwanda! Appliance recycling!—so please check it out.
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‘Trump received surprisingly little for hosting Saudi-backed golf events’
From “Here’s How Much Trump Received For Hosting Saudi-Backed Golf Events” by Dan Alexander for Forbes:
Saudi Arabia upended the golf world a few years ago with a simple strategy: Throw barrels of money at the biggest stars in the sport. Aging greats Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson hauled in an estimated $125 million and $200 million, respectively. Still-spry Jon Rahm got a reported $300 million. One big name LIV didn’t have to pay much to get on its side? Donald Trump.
The president of the United States, who is expected to offer a warm welcome to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, received about $800,000 for hosting a LIV Golf tournament in 2022, according to an income statement included in court filings. Another statement suggests a 2023 LIV event brought in $950,000. Trump has hosted seven LIV tournaments by now. If each of them generated similar amounts, his total take would add up to roughly $6 million over four years. That might sound like a lot, but it’s virtually nothing in the LIV Golf world, where no-name golfers can easily earn that much in prize money.
‘Trump’s net worth drops $1.1 billion’
Trump’s $6.2 billion net worth is down from a record $7.3 billion in September.
The decline comes as his technology company’s stock, TMTG, which trades under the ticker DJT, dropped to $10.18 on Friday, near an all-time low, amid a steep dip in bitcoin and other tokens.
Trump Media director dumps more shares
With Trump Media & Technology Group near its all-time low, Eric Swider, one of seven board members at the company and a leader in the deal to take Truth Social’s parent company public, sold another 5,200 shares last week.
From June 25: “Trump Media Board Member Who Led SPAC Merger Sells Nearly All His Shares”
‘Trump Organization announces Maldives resort—and offers investors stakes via crypto’
The Trump Organization is licensing its name to a luxury hotel in the Maldives, in partnership with a Saudi-based developer, with potential investors being offered ownership through buying digital assets—the latest crypto venture linked to Trump.
The new venture will be the “first tokenized hotel development” project, the Trump Organization claimed, meaning investors will be offered ownership stakes through their purchase of digital tokens, according to the announcement.
Other Trump Organization news
“Fact-checking Trump’s claim his family has done ‘little’ business with Saudi Arabia” (NPR)
“Tax docs show Trump library is counting on a $1B fundraising haul” (Claire Heddles for The Miami Herald)
“Trump Library Foundation Expects to Raise $50 Million This Year” (David A. Fahrenthold for The New York Times)
“Here’s Everyone Who Attended Trump’s Black-Tie Dinner With Saudi’s Prime Minister” (Siladitya Ray and Mary Whitfill Roeloffs for Forbes)
“Inside the Trump Organization’s Slow-Moving Vietnam ‘Mega Project’” (Patricia Kowsmann and Rebecca Feng for The Wall Street Journal)
“When Hary met Donald: the billionaire key to Trump’s Indonesian plans” (A. Anantha Lakshmi and Diana Mariska for The Financial Times)
“Donald Trump Jr. in overland visit to Gibraltar for meetings (Gibraltar Chronicle)
“Donald Trump and the unseemly rise of ‘insider capitalism’” (The Economist)
World Liberty Financial’s web page plugs its Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn, and Medium accounts. There’s no mention of Truth Social. (World Liberty Financial)
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