Former US President Donald Trump just moved one step closer to a big fortune from his social media company, after investors approved a merger worth about $5.7 billion.
This deal values the controlling stake that Mr. Trump holds in the Truth Social application at about $3.3 billion. This unexpected sum of money could play a key role as former President Trump is struggling financially because of a series of lawsuits, including a verdict costing him $454 million in a civil fraud case in the United States. New York.
On March 22, shareholders of Digital World, the company planning to list Trump Media & Technology Group on the stock market through a merger, voted in favor of the deal.
The next step is to complete the deal next week. However, Patrick Orlando, the former CEO of Digital World, and former Trump business associates Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss sued to claim more of their share of the deal.
It is unclear how and when these cases will be resolved. Therefore, even if the deal is completed next week, Mr. Trump will not be allowed to sell any of his shares in the company for six months, based on the terms he previously agreed to.
The deal is also poised to provide $300 million in cash for Trump Media & Technology Group - Truth Social's parent company. The social media company lost $10.6 million from operating activities in the first nine months of 2023, with revenue of $3.4 million. The company funded itself by borrowing $40.7 million through issuing promissory notes.
In February, Digital World said that Truth Social has so far had 8.9 million registrations. Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk's social network X has more than half a billion users.
Mr. Trump has 6.7 million followers on Truth Social, while he has more than 87.4 million followers on social network X.
