The parent company of Donald Trump’s social network, Truth Social, saw its shares rise 54% just half an hour after going public on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, in a deal that could generate revenue of US $3 billion (almost R$15 billion) to the former president of the United States.
At the opening of negotiations, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) was listed for the first time on the Nasdaq index under the acronym DJT – Trump’s initials – with a price of US$70 (R$348) per share, giving it gives it a market value of around US$9.5 billion (R$47.3 billion).
The high share price means Trump’s approximately 60% stake is now worth around US$5.5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
At the close of the exchange, the initial rise eased and the assets closed the day with gains of 16.10%, at US$57.99 (R$288.86), traded under the ticker DJT.
TMTG, a merger between Truth Social and Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC, a brokerage holding company), replaces the latter on the New York Stock Exchange.
This is the first time in almost 30 years that a Trump company has gone public, after his hotel and casino chain went public in 1995, which ended in bankruptcy and stopped being traded on the stock exchange a few years later.
This time, the Republican tycoon is barred from selling TMTG shares for at least six months, which will prohibit him from using the money from the sale to address his numerous lawsuits (although there is a possibility the board of directors could vote to allow Trump sells shares before then).
On Monday (25), the Republican pre-candidate for the next US presidential election heard about two lawsuits he is facing in New York City: one for civil fraud and the other for 34 offenses related to irregular payments to a porn actress. in 2016, a trial that will begin on April 15.
In one of TMTG’s documents published with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company recognizes the risk posed to the company’s reputation by the legal fronts that remain open to Trump. “An adverse outcome in one or more of the ongoing legal proceedings involving President Trump could negatively impact TMTG and its Truth Social platform,” the statement said.
Wall Street values Trump Media at around US$14 billion (R$69.7 billion), a price that some analysts consider exorbitant, considering that the company is accumulating losses and that its main product, Truth Social, is losing users .
On the other hand, it seems that this operation also responds to a political movement, in line with Trump and his company’s rejection of large social networks, which they consider to be linked to “censorship”.
“As a publicly traded company, we will passionately pursue our vision of building a movement to take back the internet from big tech censors,” says Davin Nunes, director of Trump Media, in the document. (With EFE Agency)
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