Trump is in line for a $3.5 billion windfall from his stake in Truth Social

livemint.com:

Donald Trump’s stake in his social-media company could soon be worth nearly $3.5 billion, giving the former president a potential windfall that could ease his financial pressure and boost his political campaign. Trump’s winning lottery ticket would come from Truth Social, the struggling social-media platform he launched in 2021. After a twisted path that included tens of millions of dollars in losses and insider-trading convictions, the platform could be worth billions of dollars because the former president’s supporters have bid up the shares of its merger partner.

Truth Social’s parent is set to go public by combining with a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Thousands of small investors have been buying the SPAC’s shares to express their support for Trump. Those investors are expected to approve the merger Friday morning.

Trump’s company could replace the shell company in the stock market as soon as Monday. The new ticker would be DJT, Trump’s initials. The deal is as stunning as it is unusual.

Truth Social was created by Trump after he was bounced off other social-media platforms. The platform has failed to catch on with users and its financial performance has been dismal. The platform has logged about $5 million in sales since its launch three years ago and burned through the roughly $40 million it raised from convertible notes.

That hasn’t mattered as long as shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC aiming to merge with Truth Social, are soaring. The stock rose 18% to nearly $43 Wednesday, implying a valuation of roughly $6 billion for Truth Social. Trump would own about 60% of the public company.