Donald Trump is expected to make more than $3 billion if shareholders back a merger that would lay the foundations for his media company to go public.
And the former US president could certainly use the cash, given that he owes hundreds of millions of dollars in legal penalties, including approximately $450 million to the state of New York related to a business fraud case.
Trump intends to list Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the social media platform Truth Social, via a merger with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC).
If the merger is approved, Trump Media could go public as early as next week.
According to Bloomberg, Trump would make about $3.4 billion from the debut of his media company since he owns more than half of it, and he could earn up to another $1.5 billion in stock if its shares continue to perform well.
But the merger bid has been complicated this week as DWAC filed a lawsuit attempting to force sponsor Ark Global Investments to vote in favor of the deal.
According to the lawsuit, filed in New York state court on Tuesday, DWAC argues ARC must support the merger per a 2021 agreement between the parties.
In a separate lawsuit, ARC Global managing partner and former CEO Patrick Orlando’s firm has been trying to push off the merger, arguing it should have an increased stake in the new company.
“ARC must vote in favor of the merger pursuant to the unambiguous terms of the letter agreement,” DWAC said in its lawsuit. “There are no exceptions despite ARC’s managing member Patrick Orlando’s desire to hold ARC’s vote hostage for his personal gain.”
Shares of Digital World Acquisition, which had rallied this week in the leadup to Friday’s merger vote, pulled back on Thursday. The stock traded down 4.7% at about $41 at noon but remains up about 135% in the past 12 months.