Monday, December 6th, 2021
Ex-President wants to go public
US authority examines Trump-Spac
Ex-US President Trump’s new online platform sees itself as an alternative to the “tyranny” of the large technology corporations. “Truth Social” should go to the start in the first quarter of 2022 – an IPO is also planned. But now the supervisory authorities have become prudent.
The responsible US authorities have started investigations into the planned IPO of the online network of ex-President Donald Trump. As it became known, Trump’s partner company Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) received requests for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Market Authority Finra. The SEC demanded, among other things, information on board meetings and the identity of certain investors, while Finra asked for information on DWAC’s previous share activities.
Trump founded the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) to set up his own online network Truth Social. To go public, TMTG is to merge with DWAC. The partner company serves as a kind of vehicle: It is a so-called Special Purpose Acquisition Company (Spac), in a sense an empty shell that is already traded on the stock exchange.
By merging with such a company, Trump’s TMTG can go to Wall Street, circumventing numerous requirements. The use of such stock exchange vehicles is quite common in the USA. At the weekend, the two companies announced that they had found financially strong investors for Trump’s planned online network called Truth Social. So far unnamed donors should therefore provide one billion dollars (887 million euros).
Trump was banned from major online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube after storming the Capitol on January 6. The 75-year-old has announced his own platform as an alternative to the “tyranny” of the big technology corporations. Truth Social is slated to go live early next year. Trump is still very popular with the conservative base and is toying with a renewed presidential candidacy in 2024.