Shareholders of the shell company that’s going to acquire Donald Trump’s Truth Social have approved the takeover of the social media company, which could leave the former U.S. president and current Republican presidential candidate making billions from the deal.
Investors in Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Since going public in 2021, its special purpose has remained the eventual acquisition of Truth Social, which got its start after Trump got kicked off other social media platforms when he tried to pull off what many experts consider a coup attempt following his loss in the 2020 election. (Those sites have restored his access, though he still prefers to use his own.) With the deal done, Trump would own about 60% of a post-SPAC Truth Social.
Based on DWAC’s $40 share price, his stake would be worth more than $3 billion as soon as next week, the New York Times reports. It’s not clear that investors are actually interested in the business of Truth Social itself, since the company is not doing well and really needs the $300 million it will get from the SPAC merger. Still, DWAC’s shares have become a lot more valuable this year, especially after Trump challenger Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination in January.