The billionaire jumped ahead in Forbes' list of the wealthiest people in the world in large part due to his new social media app, Truth Social.
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Former President Donald Trump's net worth has climbed an estimated $600 million since he left the White House over a year ago, according to Forbes' World's Billionaires List.
The billionaire jumped nearly 300 spots in Forbes' list of the wealthiest people in the world in large part due to his new social media app, Truth Social. The publication reported that the 75-year-old's development of the conservative social-media platform boosted his wealth an estimated $430 million.
Trump announced he was creating the alternative social-media platform in October after the former president was booted off Twitter, following the Capitol riot in 2021.
Forbes reports the app helped buoy his net worth despite reports Truth Social suffered a rocky rollout, with approximately 513,000 daily active users compared to Twitter's 217 million.
Trump has done little to promote the app. Since the product was launched in February, Trump has only posted on the site once and has less than 1% of the number of followers on his app than he had on Twitter.
Despite declining download numbers, Forbes estimates that Trump's tech venture could prove a boon for the real-estate magnate going forward as Trump Media and Technology Group pursues a plan to merge with a SPAC that has garnered soaring stock prices in recent months. However, shares of the shell company, Digital World Acquisition Group Corporation, have slid over the past month, and Reuters recently reported that two key executives at the tech company quit.
Forbes based its estimate off an anticipated value of the shares Trump owns, assuming the deal closes. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are currently investigating the deal.
A spokesperson for the former president did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
In October, Trump dropped off Forbes' list of the wealthiest Americans for the first time in 25 years. During his presidency, Trump's personal wealth dropped by over $700 million, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, as the pandemic wreaked havoc on his investments in commercial real estate, resorts and hotels, and as his brand took a hit from its association with the siege on the Capitol.
With this latest net worth estimate, Trump is now ranked at the No. 1012 spot on Forbes' World's Billionaires List.
