Donald Trump's net worth shoots past $6bn; enters Bloomberg's 500 richest list

Donald Trump has recently found himself caught up in the middle of legal penalties and operating losses in his businesses as his presidential campaign faces a cash crunch.

However, instead of seeing a decline in his wealth amid these challenges, Trump became wealthier than ever on Monday afternoon, CNBC reported.

As he attended his New York civil fraud case ruling on Monday, Trump’s net worth climbed over $4 billion to about $6.5 billion, according to Bloomberg, a global ranking of the 500 wealthiest people in the world.

This spike was attributed to a recent merger between Trump’s social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group, and a shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, known as DWAC.

The 77-year-old Republican presidential candidate owns nearly 58% of Trump Media, which operates his social media site Truth Social, making his stock worth $4 billion on paper at DWAC’s closing price of $49.95 a share on Monday.

The share price of DWAC rose by 35% on Monday as a New York appeals court reduced the amount of cash needed for a bond, saving the former president from paying a $454 million civil fraud penalty.

Earlier on Monday, Trump struggled to secure a bond over $550 million to prevent the state from seizing his real estate assets.

However, an appeals court ruled that Trump only needed a $175 million bond and paused the judgment from coming due for 10 days.

Trump was included in the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index for the first time in his life as a result of the media merger and the adjusted bond.

According to Bloomberg, the estimate of Trump's net worth is based on ethics disclosures, public filings and staff reporting.