How Trump’s media company merger could help him

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) approved the merger with former President Donald Trump’s media firm, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), on Friday, allowing the company to go public.

The move comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenlit the merger proposal in February.

Post-merger, the company, Trump Media, will be trading on the Nasdaq as early as Monday, with Devin Nunes as its leader. It will continue to own Truth Social, Trump’s alternative to Twitter.

Most importantly, Trump will own around 60% of the company, worth approximately $2.9 billion (that could be a windfall).

However, DWAC’s stock price dropped more than 13% yesterday to under $37. Due to this, Trump’s paper take from the deal was reduced by around $457 million.

Once the merger is over and the company goes public, Trump could sell his shares, and the money from it could help him with his legal debt and fines.

But, a lockup provision prevents Trump and major investors from selling shares for six months without board approval. So, his ability to use the proceeds to settle legal debts may be limited.

The merger faces hurdles, including Trump’s legal debts and ongoing investigations by the regulators and the Justice Department.