Former President Donald Trump is all set to launch his own social media platform, which would be publicly traded.
What Happened:
The move was announced in a statement shared by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) on Wednesday.
As per the statement, TMTG and special purpose acquisition company $DIGITAL WORLD ACQUISITION CORP(DWAC.US)$ are to merge resulting in a publicly-traded company called Trump Media & Technology Group.
The stated aim of TMTG is to create a “rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the 'Big Tech' companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America.”
TMTG plans to launch a social network dubbed 'TRUTH Social,' which is now available for pre-order at the app marketplace run by $Apple(AAPL.US)$.
I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced.”
- said Trump, as per the statement.
Why It Matters:
The beta Launch of TRUTH Social is set for November, a nationwide rollout is slated for the first quarter of 2022.
TMTG's initial enterprise value was revealed to be $875 million with a potential additional earnout of $825 million in additional shares for a cumulative valuation of $1.7 billion depending on the performance of the stock price post-merger.
The initial growth of the group is to be funded by Digital World Acquisition's cash in trust of $293 million (assuming no redemptions).
Additionally, TMTG also plans to launch a subscription video-on-demand service dubbed “TMTG+,” featuring “non-woke” entertainment programming, news, podcasts, and more.
TMTG named “America’s Got Talent” Executive Producer Scott St. John as the leader of TMTG+ Corporate Operations.
In January, $Twitter(TWTR.US)$ permanently banned Trump, citing a 'risk of further incitement of violence' after rioters barged into the U.S. Capitol building.
This month, Trump filed a complaint against Twitter in a district court in Florida alleging that the social media network 'coerced by members of the United States Congress,' is censoring him.
