The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenlighted the long-delayed merger between DWAC and Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) last month.
The deal could be a $3.5 billion windfall for Trump, who would control nearly 79 million shares in the newly merged company.
The potential cashflow comes as the former president struggles to secure a $464 million bond in his New York civil fraud case.
Trump’s lawyers said earlier this week that a lack of cash would make it “impossible” to for the former president to secure the full appeal bond.
Trump risks the seizure of his assets if he cannot come up with the half billion-dollar bond by Monday. The New York attorney general’s office has already taken a step toward seizing Trump’s golf resort and private estate Seven Springs.
A provision that bars insiders from selling new shares for six months means the former president will not be able to immediately access the money he stands to make from the merger.
Because Trump will hold nearly 60 percent of shares in the new company, DWAC warned in regulatory filings ahead of Friday’s shareholder vote that Trump himself was a potential risk.
Not only would Trump’s interests may perhaps not align with the other stockholders, but also company’s “success depends in part on the popularity of its brand and the reputation and popularity” of the former president, according to the filing.
The merger also faces several lawsuits from former company leaders, including TMTG co-founders Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss and former DWAC chair and CEO Patrick Orlando.
The Hill’s Julia Shapero has more here.
