Donald Trump isn’t the only one set to become a lot richer if the former president’s media startup debuts as a public company – at least on paper.
Shareholders are scheduled to vote tomorrow on whether Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) can proceed with taking Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs the Truth Social platform, public. If the long-delayed deal is approved, a number of insiders, from management to sponsors, and even former associates who sued to stall or block the deal, stand to pocket millions of dollars.
“It’ll make quite a few people pretty wealthy on paper, but can they crystallize that wealth? That’ll be TBD,” said Julian Klymochko, chief executive officer of Accelerate Financial Technologies, which has a SPAC-focused fund.
Shares of DWAC have held onto a 145% gain this year, meaning stakeholders in the firm are in for a windfall. While the stock has peeled back from a January high, its strong rally in 2024 leaves plenty of room for performance targets to be met that would provide further equity-based rewards, Bloomberg reports.
If shares hold near current levels, Devin Nunes, a former California Representative who left Congress to become CEO of Trump Media, will have a less than 1% stake of the company worth $4.9 million, while DWAC CEO Eric Swider and Trump Media CFO Phillip Juhan eye stakes of $7.7 million and $21 million, respectively. Of course, those returns pale in comparison to the $3.4 billion Trump is set to reap, since he will own more than half of the company, and will get another $1.5 billion in stock if shares keep performing well. Read more.
