Trump's media company is valued at $8 BILLION after surging on the first day of trades, more than the New York Times and Mattel

Donald Trump's new media company ended it's day of active first day of trading valued at $8 billion – more than established firms like the New York Times and Mattel – amid warnings investors were putting their money on Trump rather than the firm itself.

 At one point during the heat of its first day of trading on the NASDAQ, the firm that owns Truth Social was valued at $10 billion – despite having just $3 million in revenue for the first nine months of last year.

Even after the stock price cooled to $57.99, the firm was worth more than firms with loads of users and established track records. 

The Times, which was established in 1851 and reported on the firm's public trading debut which put its value as greater than Barbie-maker Mattel, is valued at about $7 billion. 

It's share price is about 2,000 times revenue.

Former President Donald Trump's media company was valued at $8 billion at the close of trading Tuesday after its debut on the NASDAQ

Online message board Reddit, which had its own splashy debut days ago, has a similar market cap – but boasts 268 million active users. Its value was less than ten times its revenue.

Watchdogs are already warning that Trump's huge stake in the firm presents an influence opportunity, even beyond ethics issues that popped up when he decided not to sell his empire when he got elected in 2016 or place assets in a blind trust.

'Truth Social also has missed its projected user base by an order of magnitude. It's not a successful company. It's not a company that seems to have a plan for success for marking money. It's just essentially just a meme,' Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington.  

'So it's all based on what people are putting money into,' Libowitz told DailyMail.com. 

'It's not really Truth Social, they're investing in a potential future president United States – his net worth – becomes controlled by whether people are buying or selling stock. Now, a foreign investment fund like Saudi Arabia or Qatar can buy a bunch of it, boost, his net worth, threaten to sell it in tank the net worth, and have an extreme amount of influence over the president United States.'

Shares were up again Wednesday after closing at $57.99. It's value is about 2,000 times revenue

Watchdog groups warn of potential influence opportunities with the president's wealth tied to the company

Trump continues to rely on his fans not only for potential votes – he is leading in the polls against President Biden – but for campaign contributions to pay his legal bills and other purchases. On Tuesday he began selling bibles with God Bless the USA singer Lee Greenwood.

There are about 9 million Truth Social acount holders but just 5 million active users. The former Twitter, now X, which reinstated Trump after suspending his account after January 6, has 550 million.  

Although purchases on public markets might be a blunt instrument, the dollars at stake are far greater than when Trump was under the microscope for foreign governments, embassies, and companies who booked rooms in his former luxury hotel in Washington, D.C. while he was in the White House. 

Trump's stunning financial gains with the public offering come as his legal bills and court judgments are piling up. A New York appeals court this week gave him 10 days to pay a $175 million judgment in his fraud case while he appeals.

Trump's shares are currently locked up, so he can't sell them for six months unless a company board stacked with loyalists votes to allow it. But that could subject board members to potential shareholder lawsuits if the move is seen as sacrificing the value of the company.