Trump Media shares PLUMMET more than 15% after company filed to issue millions of additional shares - as former president faces Manhattan court for hush money trial

Shares in Trump Media were down more than 15 percent on Monday morning after the company filed to issue millions of additional shares.

Since its debut on the stock market in March, its valuation is now down more than $5 billion - Donald Trump's stake therefore dropped to $2.3 billion from more than $5 billion in weeks.

It comes as the former president arrived in court on Monday for jury selection in a hush-money case. He is facing 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels over an alleged affair.

Trump is the majority shareholder in Trump Media & Technology Group - the parent company to his social media platform Truth Social. It reached a staggering valuation of $8 billion shortly after its public listing on the Nasdaq last month.

Shares in DJT were falling on Monday morning as the former president attended court in Manhattan over charges of falsifying business records

Trump Media & Technology Group is the parent company to his social media platform Truth Social

That was despite the fact that it generated only $3.4 million of revenue in the first nine months of last year and incurred losses of $49 million, SEC filings show.

Trump Media's astounding valuation led experts to label it a meme stock - meaning its value is driven not by performance but instead hype and sentiment.

But its share price has fallen from a high of around $66 on March 27 to around $27 on Monday morning. On April 12, its stock had a closing price of $32.59.

The latest slide came after it issued a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 15 indicating it would issue another 21.5 million shares.

When the company went public, there were a total of around 135 million outstanding.

The new batch of more than 20 million shares will be 'issuable upon the exercise of warrants,' according to the SEC filing.

A stock warrant is like an option which allows the holder to buy shares in a company at a certain price before the warrant expires.

Shares in DJT fell from a high of around $66 on March 27 to around $27 on Monday morning

In this case, the warrants will allow holders to purchase DJT shares for $11.50.

If the warrant is executed the company will issue additional shares, diluting the worth of existing shares.

On Monday morning, the warrants themselves were trading at $12.59 - down 8 percent from opening.

Warrants can be traded and are currently being bought and sold on the Nasdaq under the ticker DJTWW.