Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent of Truth Social, announced on Tuesday that Devin Nunes is stepping down as CEO and will be replaced by Kevin McGurn, the company said as it grapples with persistent pressure from investors. The management change marks another attempt to stabilize a business that has spent years pursuing growth far beyond its original social media mandate.

The company’s pivot began with Truth Social’s early goal of offering a “free speech” alternative to major social networks after Trump was banned from posting on Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Truth Social launched in early 2022 amid major attention, and Trump Media initially raised expectations that the platform could draw far more users and even challenge other entertainment platforms. Instead, the company’s financial trajectory has remained weak, with shares continuing to decline.

Trump Media has also faced regulatory scrutiny tied to how it reached Wall Street. The company was formed after a publicly traded shell company merged with Truth Social to tap stock market funding, a structure that federal regulators investigated for allegedly misleading investors. The matter culminated in a multimillion-dollar penalty, and the board member connected to insider trading was sentenced to prison.

More recently, platforms that had contributed to Truth Social’s pitch have changed as well. After Trump regained permission to use Twitter and Facebook, some industry changes also undercut Truth Social’s appeal, including scaling back on moderation by major platforms such as X. Meanwhile, Truth Social continued to struggle to expand its audience beyond Trump’s core supporters.

Trump Media has continued to lose money, and the stock decline has mirrored those results. In the period since Donald Trump was reelected in November 2024, the stock fell more than 60%, wiping out about $6 billion in shareholder wealth, according to the Associated Press. The stock trade has also slipped into the single digits, after closing at about $62 shortly after the company went public in 2024.

As Truth Social’s growth stalled, Trump Media moved into other areas, seeking new revenue sources and a broader “ecosystem.” In August, the company said it was starting a new cryptocurrency business in partnership with firms including Crypto.com, centered on holding Cronos tokens to support payments, rewards and services within the Trump Media digital ecosystem. The company has also raised money to build bitcoin holdings, drawing a parallel to MicroStrategy’s shift toward being a bitcoin holder.

Whether those strategies will stabilize the company remains uncertain, and comparisons to MicroStrategy have highlighted the risk. AP reported that MicroStrategy’s stock has fallen nearly 60% since July, with the value of its bitcoin holdings also dropping, dragging down sentiment in the market toward companies with large crypto exposures. For Trump Media, the continuing market pressure has persisted even as it describes its long-term business bets.

Trump Media has also taken up nuclear fusion, announcing in December that it would merge with a nuclear fusion company. The company’s rationale, as framed by supporters of the sector, is that fusion could someday power data centers needed for AI research and services, potentially easing electricity constraints as demand rises. Critics, however, have questioned the timing and structure of such moves, pointing to heavy regulation of nuclear energy and to the fact that Trump is a major shareholder in the company.

Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, said the situation creates a direct ethical concern. “There’s a huge conflict of interest,” Painter said. “The United States government is going to get all involved in it.” AP also noted that in October the U.S. Department of Energy released a “road map” outlining how the department could help the fusion private sector scale up on a “rapid timeline.”

McGurn, the new CEO, is a digital executive with experience at NBC Universal, Hulu and DoubleClick, among other companies, according to AP’s account. In a statement Tuesday, McGurn said the company was “poised to take off,” and he added that Truth Social carries “President Trump’s unique, singular vision and message,” along with what he described as the “most powerful brand and voice in history of social media and beyond.”

Even with the leadership change, investors did not appear to be reassured. On Wednesday afternoon, the stock fell sharply, down 3.5% to $9.48, AP reported.

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