| Trump’s cash troubles: Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, will most likely be approved today to be publicly traded on Wall Street (stock ticker: DJT). “Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded shell company that is looking to merge with the former president’s media business,” will be voting on the deal, which would possibly “open the door for Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is the social networking site Truth Social, to soon begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market in Digital World’s place,” per the Associated Press.
If the deal goes through, Trump’s payout could be over $3 billion, but the infusion of cash would not hit soon enough to help him with campaign expenses or to settle up his legal debts in time—one of the terms of the deal involves a “lock up agreement” that would prevent the selling of shares that were recently issued for six months.
“Trump could try to obtain a waiver from that rule, but even then he wouldn’t be able to sell more than a small fraction of his stake at any given time—up to 1 percent of the outstanding shares every quarter,” reports Politico. “And if he eventually does unload a large quantity of stock, the ramifications could be significant, according to investors and others watching the deal.” Since Trump’s personal brand is so closely tied to the company’s value, it’s important that he tread lightly so as to not spook investors. |
