Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the company set to take Trump Media and Technology Group public, spiked Monday after former president Donald Trump hinted at a 2024 presidential run.
Shares of DWAC gained 66% Monday, pushing the company’s market value over $1 billion for the first time since August. The stock is still down 43% year to date as the special purpose acquisition company navigates financial and legal troubles.
“In a very, very, very short period of time, you’re going to be very happy,” Trump told supporters in a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, going on to mention “taking back” America in 2024.
Trump’s presidential run would likely drive traffic to Trump Media’s Truth Social platform, where he has agreed to post content exclusively for eight hours before posting it elsewhere. However, the company still faces a hurdle to completing its acquisition of Trump Media and the Truth Social platform.
DWAC is still working to secure enough shareholder support to extend the deadline for the merger to September 2023. The vote has been adjourned six times, and will take place again Nov. 22.
The deal is also the subject of a criminal probe into possible securities violations over discussions that took place between DWAC and Trump Media prior to the merger announcement.
The delays have resulted in at least $138 million of a $1 billion investment in DWAC being pulled from the company, and the former president himself has suggested the SPAC combination may not go through.
“If they don’t come with the financing I’ll have it private,” Trump said to supporters in early October at a rally in Michigan. “Easy to have it private.”
There’s also concern that Trump could defect from his own platform. Internal documents revealed that he was approached with opportunities from alternative platforms Gettr and Parler before committing to the Trump Media enterprise. And Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has said he would reinstate Trump’s account on that social platform after he was banned following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
While Trump praised Musk’s acquisition, he has committed to remaining on Truth Social.
