The stock price of Truth Social’s parent company skyrocketed during the early hours of its first official day of trading Tuesday, with the price increasing by over 40%.
Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC) voted to approve a merger with former President Donald Trump’s Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social, Friday, leading to Tuesday’s Wall Street debut. Trump received 79 million shares of stock worth over $3 billion, The Hill reported.
DWAC shares traded at $49.95 at Monday’s close, according to Yahoo Finance, while the new DJT symbol that replaced DWAC is trading at over $73 as of Tuesday morning, increasing the value of Trump’s holdings by over $1 billion. Trump could receive 40 million additional shares by the end of April based on the stock’s performance, New York Magazine reported.
Trump announced he would start the social media company in October 2021, nine months after being banned from Twitter and other social media sites in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol building.
Twitter reinstated Trump in November 2022, following an online poll by Elon Musk, who completed the acquisition of the social media site in October 2022.
Trump reportedly signed a contract requiring him to post original content to Truth Social, which is owned by TMTG, and to not repost to other social media sites for six hours, according to TechCrunch.
TMTG’s website states that a planned subscription-based streaming service known as TMTG+ would offer “access to non-woke entertainment, news, documentaries, podcasts and more.”
A spokesperson for TMTG referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a Tuesday morning statement by CEO Devin Nunes.
“We built this company to protect the American people’s voices and their freedom,” Nunes said. “Having transformed into a public company, Truth Social remains committed to maintaining and vehemently defending a digital space for free expression.”
