Donald Trump is expected to receive an estimated $3.5 billion windfall as shareholders voted to take the social media company Truth Social public.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) shareholders approved the merger with publicly traded shell company Digital World Acquisition Corporation.
TMTG may begin trading under the ticker “DJT” next week.
DJT’s market value is more than $5 billion, with Trump’s stake in the company worth about $3 billion.
While Trump cannot sell his shares for at least 6 months, the board could vote to waive the policy and allow Trump to sell the shares earlier.
🚨BREAKING: Shareholders have just voted to make Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, a publicly traded company. This could net Trump a windfall of $4 billion. The President would need to seek a waiver to liquidate his stock before the end of a…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 22, 2024
The merger comes as New York Attorney General Letitia James is trying to seize Trump’s assets to cover a $464 million bond.
Trump’s legal team said the bond is a “practical impossibility.”
“Despite scouring the market, we have been unsuccessful in our effort to obtain a bond for the Judgment Amount for Defendants for the simple reason that obtaining an appeal bond for $464 million is a practical impossibility under the circumstances presented,” the filing read, according to Newsweek.
Trump called James and New York Judge Arthur Engoron’s efforts against him “unconstitutional” and “unfair.”
“THE NEW YORK A.G. USED A STATUTE TO GO AFTER ME THAT HAS NEVER BEEN USED BEFORE, NOT ONCE, FOR SUCH A PURPOSE. IT, IN AND OF ITSELF, IS SOOO UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND UNFAIR. UNDER THIS STATUTE, I GET NO JURY AND HAVE NO RIGHTS. All DECISIONS AND RIGHTS ARE GIVEN TO, IN THIS CASE, A CORRUPT, TRUMP HATING JUDGE, WHO CAME UP WITH A CRAZY, OUT OF THIN AIR AWARD, IN ORDER TO DAMAGE ME POLITICALLY, AND NOT ALLOW ME TO USE ANY OF THE LARGE AMOUNT OF CASH I HAVE BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS, THROUGH HARD WORK, INSIGHT, INSTINCT, AND DILIGENCE, ON MY POLITICAL CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT. THAT IS JUST WHAT CROOKED JOE BIDEN WANTED THIS POLITICAL HACK, COUPLED WITH A CORRUPT AND RACIST ATTORNEY GENERAL, TO DO,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“I DID NOTHING WRONG! THIS IS SIMPLY A ‘TAKING.’ MUCH LIKE WHAT IS DONE IN COMMUNIST COUNTRIES, AND WILL LEAVE AN IRREPARABLE STAIN ON NEW YORK STATE AND ITS JUDICIAL SYSTEM. IT IS TOTALLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL, INCLUDING THE HARSH GAG ORDER IMPOSED. THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS WAS ALREADY RULED ON, FOR ME!”
