The investment firm that reportedly placed a massive option on the Trump Media & Technology Group just twenty-four hours before the assassination attempt of the former president now claims it was a “clerical error.”
Investment firm Austin Private Wealth LLC allegedly betted on the price falling, which would have definitely happened if Donald Trump had been killed.
Rriter and researcher Josh Walkos said it appeared as though the firm had “shorted 12,000,000 shares of $DJT via a put option. The filing date is July 12, the day before the assassination attempt.”
BREAKING🚨🚨
— Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) July 17, 2024
A company called Austin Private Wealth LLC shorted 12,000,000 shares of $DJT via a put option. The filing date is July 12th, the day before the assassination attempt.
They have around $1 Billion in assets under management and this is by far the largest put placed.… pic.twitter.com/9ZehBexdFK
“They have around $1 Billion in assets under management and this is by far the largest put placed,” wrote Walkos.
However, the Bloomberg terminal screenshot showed the contract mysteriously disappeared from the record.
To make things even more interesting, my source tipped me off with the following two images from their Bloomberg terminal.
— Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) July 17, 2024
The screenshot on the left shows the Put by Austin Private Wealth LLC, that was taken earlier this morning. It shows the 120,000 puts.
As you can see their… pic.twitter.com/8CfvIwOKCo
The company amended its filing records on July 16, and the option was removed.
Austin Private Wealth amended their filing on 7/16 and removed their put option on TMGT 👀https://t.co/VX7cWFhDC4 pic.twitter.com/Q6ofSaFdsW
— Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) July 17, 2024
“Another interesting thing about the amendment filed on 7/16 is that it is the only one they have ever had. I searched and their first filing was on 2-12-2020,” wrote Walkos.
Kyler Becker also highlighted that Vanguard (George Soros) and BlackRock are among the largest holders in Austin Private Wealth LLC.”
Coincidence?
Vanguard (Soros) and BlackRock are among the largest holders in Austin Private Wealth LLC pic.twitter.com/LzVU9ihqGv
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) July 18, 2024
Jason Goodman then contacted AJ Wagner to ask about the controversy, also noting it was a “remarkable coincidence.”
A lot of people have been sending me information about Austin Private Wealth shorting 12,000,000 shares of Trump Media and Technology Group stock. I just called AJ Wagner, a partner in the firm to ask him if it was true. pic.twitter.com/NWTvvqFIOU
— Crowdsource The Truth (@JG_CSTT) July 18, 2024
Wagner said it was nothing more than a “clerical error in the filing.”
Austin Private Wealth then issued a statement:
JUST IN:
— Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) July 18, 2024
Austin Private Wealth released the following statement about the shorted DJT.
“Statement on Incorrect Filing with the SEC
The SEC filing which showed that Austin Private Wealth shorted a large number of shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (DJT) was incorrect…
“The SEC filing which showed that Austin Private Wealth shorted a large number of shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (DJT) was incorrect and we immediately amended it as soon as we learned of the error.”
“No client of APW holds, or has ever held, a put on DJT in the quantity initially reported. The correct holding amount was 12 contracts, or 1,200 shares— not 12 million shares, as was filed in error.”
“In submitting the required report for the second quarter of 2024, a multiplier was applied by a third-party vendor that increased the number of the shares by a multiple of 10,000 for all options contracts (not just DJT).”
“We did not catch the error before approving the filing. We filed the report on July 12 to reflect our positions on June 28. We amended it on July 16.”
“We deeply regret this error and the concern it has caused, especially at such a fraught moment for our nation.”
“We are committed to full transparency and maintaining the trust of our clients.”
“As such, we are reviewing our internal procedures and our processes with the third-party vendor that assists with SEC filings to better understand how this happened and avoid similar issues moving forward.”
READ: ABC: Trump’s ‘Violent Rhetoric’ Caused Assassination Attempt
