On Tuesday, Truth Social, created by ex-President Donald Trump for trading publicly under the symbol “DJT,” will lead the real estate mogul back to running a public company with his initials.
In a statement released on Monday, Trump Media & Technology Group confirmed that the ticker symbol for its flagship social media platform Truth Social will be active from tomorrow onwards. The company underwent a merger with a blank-check or special purchase acquisition company (SPAC), which is designed to facilitate the process of taking private entities public without an initial public offering.
The shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., known as SPAC, approved the merger with Trump’s media enterprise. This development paves way for Truth Social to be taken public without an initial public offering (IPO). The merged company changed its name to Trump Media & Technology Group after concluding the deal on Monday, according to a statement released.
According to Kristi Marvin, the CEO of SPACInsider.com – a platform that delivers information and updates on the SPAC sector- , The titular emblem “perfectly represents” Trump’s brand.
In early afternoon trading on Monday, Digital World Acquisition Corp.’s shares surged by 23% or $8.56 to reach $45.50.
According to a regulatory filing earlier this year, Truth Social’s parent company generated $3.3 million in revenue for the opening nine months of 2023. However, with reference to the Digital World Acquisition Corp.’s stock price, it is predicted that the firm could trade under DJT ticker at an evaluation exceeding $5 billion – signifying a substantial market capitalization acquisition.
Although many tech companies have gone public with negative profits, investors generally prefer to invest in businesses that can rapidly increase their user base and sales by catering to a diverse range of advertisers. According to Similarweb estimates, Truth Social had approximately 5 million active members in February but does not disclose its user figures otherwise.
Last month, ahead of its IPO filing, Reddit reported a revenue increase of 21% to $804 million for the year with approximately 73.1 million daily active users; in comparison, it went public last week.
The DJT ticker has transitioned from being an IPO to becoming a penny stock.
Trump has previously managed a publicly traded company with the ticker DJT on more than one occasion.
According to the IPO account by The New York Times, Trump’s participation in his hotels and casino resorts’ initial public offering back in 1995 marked the last time DJT was used. He aimed to leverage this opportunity of raising resources from the public markets towards expanding his casinos.
According to the Washington Post, while the shares started strong by rising from its IPO price of $14 to a peak of $35 per share shortly after, it gradually lost value over time and ended up trading for only pennies.
In 2004, Chapter 11 bankruptcy was filed by Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.