Shares of former US president Donald Trump’s media company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) witnessed a significant surge, gaining over 50 per cent on their Nasdaq debut under the ticker DJT on Tuesday.
The company’s stock market debut comes after its merger with blank-check company Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) which was announced in October 2021 but suffered setbacks and delays. It has been the target of investigations by the US Department of Justice.
The shares surged past $70 in early trade with the company hitting the market value of more than $9 billion. They closed at around $58, still up over 16 per cent.
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The ticker debuted on the Nasdaq stock market almost three decades after Trump used it to launch his publicly traded hotel and casino company to great fanfare in 1995. The stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange nine years later.
In an official statement, Trump Media said that the symbol pays direct homage to the company’s former Chairman and Director, and the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump.
“We believe that the commencement of trading of DJT on the public markets testifies to Americans’ demands for free-speech platforms that reject the stifling censorship imposed by Big Tech,” the company said.
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The former president is the majority shareholder in the company, whose directors include his son, Donald Trump Jr, and other close allies.
According to SEC filings, Trump will hold 78.75 million shares or 69 per cent stake in Trump media depending on the rate of share redemptions by DWAC shareholders. Trump is barred by the terms of the merger from selling his stakes for six months but the company’s board could grant him a waiver of that lock-up period. His stake is worth around $6 billion.
Despite the initial stock success, the company continues to struggle with financial difficulties including losses and high interest expenses. Trump Media’s Truth Social brought in just $3.3 million in revenue in the first nine months of last year and incurred losses of nearly $50 million.
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