DWAC stock jumps 35% on Trump’s reduced bond, post-merger ticker news

Shares
of


Digital
World
Acquisition
Corp.
soared
35%
on
Monday
after
an
appeals
court

substantially
reduced
the
bond
former
President
Donald
Trump
has
to
post
in
a
civil
fraud
case,
and
the
company
announced
it
will
start
trading
as
DJT
on
Tuesday.

The
appeals
court
reduced
the
bond
amount
to
$175
million
from
$454
million,
and
extended
Trump’s
Monday
deadline
to
post
the
bond
by
another
10
days.

The
ruling
came
after
the

approval
of
a
merger
between
the
shell
company
and
the
social
media
group
owned
by
former
President

Donald
Trump.

The
DWAC
jump
Monday
was
likely
driven
mostly
by
news
of
the
reduced
bond.
Investors
in
the
company
initially
feared
Trump
might
try
to
sell
some
of
his
majority
stock
in
order
to
free
up
cash
if
he
were
required
to
post
a
bond
north
of
$400
million.

With
the
bond
reduced
to
$175
million,
the
odds
that
Trump
would
try
to
sell
his
shares
or
pressure
the
board
to
alter
the
merger’s
lock-up
provisions
both
fell
significantly.

DWAC
shareholders
voted
Friday
to
approve
the
combination
between
the
special
purpose
acquisition
company,
or
SPAC,
and
Trump
Media
&
Technology
Group,
the
owner
of
the
social
media
platform

Truth
Social.

Shares
in
the
merged
company
will

begin
publicly
trading
Tuesday
under
the
ticker
symbol
DJT,
Trump’s
initials.

The
company’s
debut
on
public
markets
could
provide
a

financial
boost
to
Trump,
who
is
expected
to
own
80
million
shares,
which
could
be
worth
around
$3
billion
or
more,
in
the
new
company.

Under
the
deal’s
current
terms,
Trump
will
not
be
allowed
to
sell
shares
in
the
company
for
at
least
six
months.

However,
the
board
of
directors
could
vote
to
permit
Trump
to
sell
shares
earlier.
The
board
is
expected
to
include
several
people
close
to
Trump,
including
his
son
Donald
Trump
Jr.
and
Trump’s
former
trade
representative,
Robert
Lighthizer.

A
potential
windfall
from
selling
shares
could
help
pay
for
Trump’s
legal
bills
and
damage
judgments
of
over
$500
million
in
three
separate
cases.

Monday’s
rise
comes
after
the
stock

fell
nearly
14%
Friday
after
DWAC
shareholders
signed
off
on
the
merger.
The
stock
has
soared
160%
this
year
but
has
lost
about
15%
since
hitting
its
52-week
high
on
Jan.
23.