The criminal case against Donald Trump is providing a lift today to the blank-check firm taking his media company public, as well as other stocks tied to the former president, as traders bet the news will drive traffic to conservative outlets, Bloomberg reports.
Digital World Acquisition, the SPAC trying to merge with Trump Media, rallied as much as 10%. Meanwhile, Phunware, a software company that worked on Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, gained as much as 5.6% and Rumble, the Peter Thiel-backed conservative video network, climbed as much as 11% after reporting results.
Separately, Forbes reported that SEC filings show Trump is in position to hold 73.3 million shares of the merged entity, if the deal ever closes. When the markets closed Thursday night, with shares trading at $13.06, investors were suggesting they believed Trump’s stake was worth about $957 million. By Friday morning, with stock changing hands at $14.42, the market was implying Trump’s stake was worth about $1.057 billion. Read more.
