Schneider Electric agreed on Monday to acquire publicly traded software company PTC in an all-cash deal worth $22.6 billion, according to Protos. The offer is set at $205 per share.
Protos reported that Donald Trump’s investment portfolio bought $500,000 worth of PTC stock 77 days before the takeover agreement. The outlet said Schneider Electric’s offer was 42% above Friday’s close and 64% above the price on the day Trump’s portfolio acquired the shares.
Ethics filing showed a disclosed PTC position
The report said Trump’s beneficial purchase appears on row 1,001 of a filing with the US Department of Government Ethics. The president disclosed a purchase of up to $1 million in shares of PTC Inc.
The public learned of the investment on September 22. Because Trump is required to make periodic disclosures rather than daily trading reports, Protos said it is currently impossible to know whether he continued to hold PTC into this week’s buyout announcement unless a later filing is submitted.
If he held the shares, the gain ranges from 53% to 64%
Protos wrote that if Trump had held PTC from July 20, the trade would have been up at least 53% as of Monday’s close. If the transaction closes at Schneider Electric’s full $205 per share offer, the gain would rise to as much as 64%.
Questions remain over who directs Trump’s portfolio
The extent of Trump’s personal involvement in the holdings of his investment portfolio remains a matter of public debate. A Trump Organization spokesperson said in May that the holdings sit in “fully discretionary accounts,” meaning someone was actively selecting which securities to buy and sell rather than relying on passive rebalancing or index tracking.
That spokesperson also said Trump’s personal portfolio is “independently managed by third-party financial institutions with sole and exclusive authority over all investment decisions.”
Protos then cited the Code of Federal Regulations, describing it as the official legal publication of codified rules issued in the Federal Register by US government departments and agencies. The code states: “You have investment discretion when you have… the sole or shared authority to determine what securities or other assets to purchase or sell on behalf of that account.” It adds: “You retain investment discretion if you delegate investment discretion to another.”
White House comments and Trump’s own remarks do not fully line up
On September 22, White House spokesman Davis Ingle repeated that outside institutions manage Trump’s portfolio.
Protos noted, however, that Trump himself has said, “My kids run it,” instead of attributing control to third-party institutions. Ingle also told Fortune that Trump’s assets sit in a trust “managed by his children.” When asked about the tension between those descriptions, he said, “defer to Trump Org.”
Two senators had already questioned the timing of trades
The article said two US senators wrote to Trump in August about his trading activity. Their letter said: “The timing of a number of transactions raise questions about whether you are using your knowledge of government activities, your official authority, or the vast megaphone provided by the presidency to make investments or move markets to your personal benefit.”
As of Protos’ report, whether Trump still owned PTC at the time of the buyout announcement, and what role he personally played in the investment decision, remained unresolved in public records pending any later disclosure.