Saturday, November 23, 2024

SPAC tied to Trump’s social media venture receives regulatory inquiries

As it revealed details about its business for the first time ahead of a stock market listing, the blank check corporation taking former US President Donald Trump’s social media venture public said it had received inquiries from US financial regulators.

Between late October and early November, Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.O) received demands for information from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

The SEC had requested papers relating to communications between the blank check company and Trump’s social media enterprise, board meetings, trading policies and procedures, banking, telephone, and email addresses, and the identities of specific investors.

The DWAC filing comes after TMTG announced on Saturday that it had reached agreements to raise nearly $1 billion from an unnamed group of investors as it prepared to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

In October, Trump Media signed a deal with Digital World to go public for $875 million, including debt. Based on the price of Digital World shares after the close of trade on Friday, the partnership is now worth about $4 billion. The stock was scooped up by Trump loyalists and day traders.

Some Wall Street investors are wary of Trump’s presidency. After his supporters attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, he was banned from major social media sites for fear of inciting future violence. The attack on the Capitol was based on unfounded allegations of extensive election fraud in the previous year’s presidential election.

DWAC also said it anticipates Trump’s social media app, TRUTH Social, to rise to $13.50 per user in 2026, with 81 million total users, in the first public set of predictions since the merger announcement.

DWAC also predicted that by 2026, TMTG will have 40 million overall subscribers.

Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is a social networking platform with over 200 million daily active users.

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