Former President Donald Trump will become one of the 500 richest people in the world after his media company begins public trading on Tuesday, according to a report on Monday by Bloomberg News.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, established the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in February of 2021 to develop an alternative social media website, following his removal from Twitter after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, with the new website “Truth Social” being unveiled in 2022.
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On Monday, TMTG completed a merging process with DWAC, a special-purpose acquisition corporation. This would allow the company to be publicly traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations stock exchange, also known as the “Nasdaq” exchange.
According to Bloomberg News, Trump’s 58% stake in the company is valued at $3.9 billion.
When the closing of the deal was announced on Monday, DWAC’s share price increased by 35.22% to close at $49.95. The new company retained the TMTG name and changed its stock ticker to Trump’s initials, “DJT.” This process will increase Trump’s net worth to $6.4 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Trump’s net worth, which until recently has primarily comprised real property of The Trump Organization, has been subject to varying estimates. The Australian Financial Review estimated his net worth to be $9.8 billion following the TMTG acquisition process, while Forbes maintains his net worth at $2.6 billion as of Monday — making him the 1,265th richest person in the world — with its highest-ever estimate for his net worth being $4.5 billion in 2016.
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Truth Social has reported many losses since its creation, with Trump being the primary user of the platform with the largest number of followers. He often announces major legal and campaign decisions on the platform, similar to his use of Twitter during his presidency.
Trump will not be able to sell his stake in TMTG for at least six months following the commencement of trading, according to Bloomberg.
Trump has said that he has no plans to return to Twitter even after Elon Musk reinstated him on Nov. 19, 2022, following the results of a poll Musk created on the question. Over 15 million users voted in the poll, with 51.8% voting in favor of reinstatement compared to 48.2% against.
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