Shares Of SPAC Behind Trump Social Media Company Jump 400%

The share price of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that plans to merge with a media group connected to former President Donald Trump quintupled on Thursday, following an announcement late Wednesday night that Trump planned to launch a new social media company.

  • Shares of the Digital World Acquisition SPAC were trading at $49.81 early Thursday afternoon—more than 400% higher than the price on Wednesday.
  • Trading was halted at five points on Thursday due to volatility, leading to surges in price each time trading resumed.
  • The price of the stock more than doubled over a period of under two hours late Thursday morning into the early afternoon.
  • Digital World Acquisition Corp. was the Fidelity platform’s most actively traded stock on Thursday, with “buy” orders outnumbering “sell” orders nearly three to one.

KEY BACKGROUND

Digital World Acquisition plans to merge with the Trump Media and Technology Group to fund the launch of a new social media platform called “TRUTH Social,” which bills itself as a “rival to the liberal media consortium.” The merger will result in the Trump Media and Technology Group becoming a publicly listed company, according to a statement announcing the move, with Trump serving as chairman. Trump—who was a constant presence on Twitter for most of his presidency—was banned from essentially every major social media platform after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

TRUTH Social is planning a beta launch for invited guests starting in November, ahead of a full release in the first quarter of 2022. Trump Media and Technology Group also announced it plans to launch a video streaming service featuring “non-woke” programming.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silences,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech.”

LATEST VIDEO