Donald Trump’s Twitter clone “Truth Social” is set to debut on the stock market as early as next week, delivering a windfall of more than $3 billion to the cash-strapped former president as the 2024 campaign heats up. It has the potential to bring in income.
Shareholders of blank check acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp. on Friday approved a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group, the social media app’s parent company. Trump’s 58% personal stake in publicly traded companies is worth $3.3 billion.
The deal comes as the Republican 2024 presidential candidate faces a Monday deadline to pay a $454 million fine in a civil fraud case in New York.
If the 77-year-old businessman-turned-politician fails to pay the multimillion-dollar fine, New York Attorney General Letitia James will be free to begin pursuing Trump’s prized assets.
Trump still faces tough hurdles as he cannot sell any stake in the new company for at least six months.
According to reports, President Trump is also prohibited from taking out loans that pay penalties using DJT stock as collateral, but according to reports, President Trump could ask the combined company’s board of directors to waive that provision. He says it can be done.
Board members are Trump supporters, but granting the exemption could cause other investors to sell their shares, causing the stock price to fall. According to the Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper reported Friday that there could be limits on the amount of stock President Trump can sell over a three-month period, based on weekly trading volume and the number of shares outstanding.
Merger looms as Trump lags far behind president biden He joined the campaign fundraising effort as his rivals ramp up their second bids for the White House. The deal also comes as Truth Social needs funding to attract more users and advertisers.
DWAC’s shareholders, who have invested more than $300 million in the company, will vote on Friday to become shareholders in Trump Media, which will trade under the stock symbol DJT, named after the former president’s monogram.
Upon Trump Media’s initial public offering, DWAC will cease to exist, similar to a blank check merger.
The new company is expected to debut on the Nasdaq with a market capitalization of more than $5 billion, based on DWAC’s stock price of $44 per share just before the voting results were announced.
Trump Media’s board of directors includes Donald Trump Jr. and several former members of President Trump, and former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) will serve as CEO. According to Axios.
Representatives for Trump Media did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Trump, who goes by @realDonaldTrump on Truth Social, has more than 6.7 million followers on the app, which boasted more than 88 million followers in 2021 following the Capitol riot. This is an app I created after being suspended from Twitter.
Elon Musk, who has since bought Twitter and renamed it “X,” said in November 2022 that a user asked whether the controversial politician should be allowed to return after running for the White House again. Trump returned to the platform after conducting a survey.
In the end, more than 15 million people voted, and those who chose to reinstate Trump received 51.8% of the vote.
