Investors greenlight Trump's $5.7 billion Truth Social deal

Former U.S. President Donald Trump came a step closer on Friday to reaping a major windfall from his social media firm after investors in a blank-check acquisition company approved a merger currently worth about $5.7 billion.

The deal values Trump's majority stake in the company that holds his app Truth Social at about $3.3 billion. The windfall could prove vital as Trump grapples with the financial fallout of a string of legal cases against him, including a $454 million judgment in a civil fraud case in New York.

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp, the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that plans to list Trump Media & Technology Group on the stock market through a merger, voted in favor of the deal on Friday.

The deal is also poised to deliver a vital $300 million cash infusion to Truth Social parent Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). The social media company reported a loss of $10.6 million from its operations in the first nine months of 2023 on revenue of $3.4 million. It has been funding itself by borrowing $40.7 million through convertible promissory notes that can be paid back in stock.

Based on how Digital World's shares have recently traded, TMTG would be valued at as much as $5.7 billion following its merger with Digital World on an undiluted basis and as much as $8.6 billion on fully diluted basis that takes into account warrants to be exercised and earnout shares to be issued.

In a rally fueled by Trump supporters and other retail investors, Digital World's stock has nearly quadrupled since its tie-up with TMTG was announced in 2021.

Buying the stock "will help President Trump get his bond, buying 4 shares by all will benefit all," Truth Social user @racinrob wrote in a post this week.

Digital World's shares tumbled over 10 percent on Friday following the deal's shareholder approval.

An $8.6 billion fully diluted valuation for the combined company would be a little less than half that of Elon Musk's much more popular social media company X.

In February, Digital World said Truth Social has so far had 8.9 million sign-ups. X, by comparison, has more than half a billion monthly users, according to Musk.

Trump has 6.7 million followers on Truth Social, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on X when the platform permanently suspended him, and the 87.4 million followers he currently has on that platform.

Trump, who is running to be U.S. president again, will own between 58.1 percent and 69.4 percent of the combined company, depending on the extent to which investors back the deal.

TMTG was launched with the help of Litinsky and Moss – two former contestants on Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice" – as a way for Trump to connect with his supporters after Facebook, Twitter - now X - and YouTube removed him following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

(With input from Reuters)