Former president Donald Trump could be close to a Wall Street return as shareholders of a special acquisition vehicle vote on buying his media firm on Friday.
If approved, shell business Digital World Acquisition Corp would buy Trump Media, which owns social media Truth Social, to take public on the Nasdaq stock market.
Trump would own some 58% of the merged company, equating to 78 million shares of over US$42 (£33.3) each, collectively worth over US$3 billion based on Digital World’s current price.
This would come as Trump scrambles to pay a US$464 million fine on the back of a civil fraud lawsuit, ahead of a deadline on Monday.
That said, Trump would not be able to gain funds from the merger for several months yet under rules locking up shares for certain periods after such deals.
Trump Media itself, set up after Trump was banned from Facebook and Twitter on the back of the Capitol riots in early 2021, has faced scrutiny recently, with the firm’s own auditors warning it was at risk of failure last year.
Digital World also agreed last year to pay US$18 million to settle fraud charges relating to how the Trump Media merger came about.
However, despite the risks, backers of Digital World appear to mainly be independent investors, with many also said to be Trump loyalists.
“This is putting your money where your mouth is for free speech, to save your country, potentially losing it all,” Chad Nedohin, who supports the deal, said recently on his show on the video platform Rumble.