Trump Media Group to Become Publicly Traded Company, Could Fetch Former President $3 Billion

Shareholders voted on Friday to transform Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, into a publicly traded entity, according to a report by Fox News.

The shareholders approved the merger between Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and its special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Digital World Acquisition Corp., an already publicly traded shell company.

BREAKING: Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology Group to become publicly traded company https://t.co/559Ne9wCcS

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 22, 2024

Following the merger's ratification, TMTG stock is poised to be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "DJT" as early as the upcoming week.

Former President Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee, holds approximately 78.7 million shares in Trump Media & Technology Group.

At the current stock price of around $44.17 per share, his personal stake in the company could be valued between $3 billion and $4 billion. However, there is a six-month lock-up period on Trump's shares, although the board retains the authority to waive this regulation.

The merger provides Truth Social, which positions itself as a platform for free speech and a refuge from censorship prevalent on other major tech platforms, with roughly $300 million for platform expansion. Devin Nunes serves as the CEO of TMTG, having joined the company in December 2021 following his retirement from nearly two decades in Congress.

"We embarked on a mission to establish a sanctuary for free speech online, a necessity now more than ever," Nunes said in a statement on Friday. "We are confident that the merger will enable us to advance this cause even further."

He continued, "If you seek to express yourself beyond the constraints of Big Tech censorship and suppression, Truth Social welcomes you."

The merger between Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and its SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp., was realized after years of delays due to investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into alleged pre-targeting by DWAC. Pre-targeting refers to a SPAC engaging in discussions regarding a potential merger with a target entity before being legally permitted to do so.

However, last month, the SEC greenlit the merger, marking a significant milestone in the company's trajectory. Trump Media & Technology Group was initially launched in October 2021.

Truth Social, the social media platform, was unveiled by Trump in February 2022, a year after his suspension from platforms like then-Twitter (now X), Facebook, and Instagram following the events of January 6, 2021, in suspensions that have since been lifted.