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Trump's social media company Truth Social to go public as DWAC merger approved
With Trump owning 58.1% of the stock and DWAC's per-share value of $40, the ex-POTUS could make billions from the deal
Donald Trump could land nearly $3 billion, thanks to the merger of his social media company Truth Social. On Friday, the shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corporation approved a merger with Truth Social's parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group. With Trump owning 58.1% of the stock and DWAC's per-share value of $40, the ex-POTUS could make billions from the deal.
Trump's Truth Social set to go public amid DWAC merger
The deal comes nearly two and a half years after the merger was first proposed by the special purpose acquisition company. Truth Social could go public as early as next week under the stock symbol DJT, which stands for Trump's initials. This merger comes at the perfect time as the presumptive GOP nominee faces the possibility of Letitia James starting to collect the $454 million she won against him in the civil fraud trial.
According to experts, Truth Social's valuation is staggering, considering it ranks below other social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook. As the value of Trump's share in the company will be affected by any decline in the share prices of DWAC, the deal includes a lockout provision barring him from immediately selling his shares. This could potentially limit the Republican frontrunner's ability to use this merger as collateral for paying off James, per ABC News.
Just hours after the shareholders approved the DWAC-Truth Social merger, the share price of DWAC fell by 12%. However, the prices climbed back up by Friday afternoon. As per the data by FactSet, “11% of DWAC’s tradable shares are being sold short.” This means that they are “being used to bet that the share price will drop.” In addition to the hefty judgment, Trump is facing enormous legal bills from his attorneys in criminal and civil fraud cases, per CNBC.
