(Bloomberg) — Shares of the blank-check company merging with former president Donald Trump’s social media startup surged as much as 27% Monday, after the combined firm announced it is set to begin trading Tuesday, potentially bringing him a financial windfall.
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Trump Media & Technology Group is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol DJT after completing a deal with Digital World Acquisition Corp., according to a statement, following more than two years of snags.
DWAC shares soared as high as $46.98 each, the most on an intraday basis since February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They were trading at $45.44 each as of 1:32 p.m. on Monday, 23% above the close Friday when the deal’s shareholder vote passed as expected. Warrants tied to the SPAC were up about 19%.
The merger could potentially hand Trump nearly $4 billion worth of shares, though they would be subject to lock-up agreements and performance requirements that may temporarily hinder his ability to monetize the stock and ease his present cash crunch.
Read More: Trump Eyes $4 Billion Stock Windfall as His Legal Bills Pile Up
Digital World Chief Executive Officer Eric Swider will become a director of the merged company, which will be led by Devin Nunes, a former California Representative who left Congress to become CEO of Trump Media, the statement showed.
The windfall may come at a critical time for Trump who earlier this month became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. He’s paying millions of dollars a month to fund his ongoing legal troubles. He is set for the first of his criminal trials on April 15, a judge ruled. Separately, a New York appeals court agreed on Monday to slash the former president’s bond in his fraud case by more than two thirds to $175 million while he appeals the verdict.
The special-purpose acquisition vehicle has more than doubled this year as investors use it as a way to bet on Trump’s push for re-election. The stock has been a favorite among the retail-trading crowd since the deal was announced in 2021 with posts across Stocktwits and Reddit Inc.’s WallStreetBets forum encouraging people to buy shares.
(Updates with shares in first and third paragraphs.)
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