A New York appeals court on Monday reduced the $454 million that former President Donald Trump was required to put up while he appeals his civil fraud case. Now Trump must put up, by April 4, a mere $175 million. The trouble is, he may not get a bond for that amount, either. Should that happen, this act of judicial mercy will end up feeling to Trump like a curse.

The stay deprives Trump of the only argument on which he was gaining any traction at all—that the amount the court required him to put up was excessively high. Four hundred and fifty-four million was indeed an unusually large judgment against a private corporation or individual. (The distinction between Trump and the Trump Organization is paper-thin.) Monday’s appeals court decision doesn’t reduce that judgment, as New York State Attorney General Letitia James pointed out in a written statement. But it does dramatically reduce the amount Trump needs to turn over to the state while he pursues his appeal. It also gives us some hint that the appeals court may reduce Judge Arthur Engoron’s $454 million judgment to, well, $175 million.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    16
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    8 months ago

    His net worth just hit $6B due to the pump & dump scheme that is Truth Social.

    • Dr. Bob@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      8 months ago

      None of that is liquid though. He’s locked into the holdings for six months while the stock freefalls from the IPO. If the majority stockholder is going to be selling shares during the initial offering you bet your panties that has to be disclosed.

        • Dr. Bob@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          Not the board, it has to be part of a regulatory filing and disclosed to potential stock purchasers.

      • jaschen@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        8 months ago

        But can’t he just get a loan for the stock and skip the 6 months AND skip paying taxes too?

        • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          8 months ago

          No, the same agreement that prevents selling shares also prevents using them as collateral.

          • jaschen@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            8 months ago

            So basically he is trying to delay until that day. Got it. Thank you for the info. I didn’t know.

        • Dr. Bob@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          Would you accept that toilet paper as collateral?

          Remember the judgement he’s fighting was for overvaluing assets. So you are going to take stock in a company that lost 28 million dollars on only 3 million of revenue, and believe that it’s worth 500 million six months from now when it can finally be sold?

          Also I think assets need to unencumbered to be pledged and the stock is encumbered.