Newsmax’s stock skyrockets 2,200% in two days, eclipsing Fox News and turning its CEO into a billionaire.
Wall Street just witnessed a financial earthquake—Trump-backed Newsmax has seen its stock price explode by an eye-watering 2,200%, pushing its market value beyond media titans like Fox News, Warner Bros Discovery, and Paramount Global.
The conservative news network made its New York Stock Exchange debut on Monday with an initial share price of $10 (£7.75). By the close of trading on Tuesday, each share had rocketed to $233, catapulting Newsmax’s valuation to a staggering $30 billion—a figure that now surpasses Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp.
Market analysts say retail investors are behind the astonishing rise, drawing comparisons to GameStop’s legendary 2021 meme-stock frenzy. During the pandemic, amateur investors banded together online to drive up stocks like GameStop and AMC, defying Wall Street logic.
Now, Newsmax seems to be the latest beneficiary of this retail-fuelled phenomenon, with its pro-Trump stance making it a favourite among politically motivated traders.
The mind-boggling surge has also turned Newsmax’s founder and CEO Christopher Ruddy into one of America’s wealthiest individuals. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ruddy’s net worth has now surpassed $9 billion, cementing his status as a financial powerhouse.
Ruddy, a longtime friend of Donald Trump, has played a pivotal role in shaping the network’s image. Newsmax was a minor player in the cable news space until 2020, when it gained a massive audience after Trump publicly endorsed it amid his fallout with Fox News.
Despite this, Ruddy has insisted that Newsmax is not “Trump TV”—though the company has benefitted tremendously from its association with the former president.
Newsmax’s stock market debut follows a growing trend of conservative media companies tapping into public markets. Other firms in this space include:
- Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social and went public in March.
- Rumble Inc, a Canadian video platform often referred to as the “right-wing YouTube”.
These companies have built loyal followings by positioning themselves as alternatives to mainstream media and Big Tech platforms.
Despite its meteoric rise, Newsmax is not without its legal troubles. Earlier this month, the network paid a hefty $40 million settlement over defamation claims from voting machine company Smartmatic. The lawsuit stemmed from false claims aired on Newsmax that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 election in favour of Joe Biden.
The settlement follows similar legal battles faced by Fox News, which paid $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems in a separate lawsuit over 2020 election misinformation.
The biggest question now is whether Newsmax’s stock surge is sustainable or just another meme-stock bubble waiting to pop. While the company has capitalised on Trump’s loyal base, its financial fundamentals don’t yet justify a $30 billion valuation—leading some analysts to warn that a massive price correction could be imminent.
For now, Newsmax’s rise is one of the most shocking stock market stories of the year. Whether it crashes back to reality or cements its place among media giants depends on whether its newfound investors keep the faith—or cash out while they can.
