The story
Founded by Andy Dean and Donald Trump on Feb 2021.1
President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter on January 8, 2021, in response to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. In May, the then-former president unveiled a website, "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump", which he said he would use to spread his thoughts; it was shut down within a month.
Meanwhile, the Trump Media & Technology Group was incorporated in February 2021, and on September 3, 2021, Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special-purpose acquisition company, began trading on the Nasdaq after its IPO of 25 million shares. DWAC was created with the help of ARC Capital, a Shanghai-based firm known for listing Chinese companies on American stock markets and which had been under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for misrepresenting shell corporations. The DWAC-Trump venture was linked to China Yunhong Holdings until December 2021, when the lead banker promised to sever ties with China and dissolve Yunhong. In February 2022, Reuters reported that the connection between Shanghai-based ARC Capital and Digital World was more extensive than thought, with ARC having offered money to start the SPAC.
In October 2021, Trump announced that he had created TMTG through a SPAC merger with DWAC that they had entered into a merger agreement to make TMTG a publicly traded company and that they would create a social media company to rival Twitter. DWAC proceeded to raise hundreds of millions of dollars; reporters questioned the ethics and legality surrounding their financial backers and their history with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). There was concern that they may have violated securities law by fundraising off the proposed merger before being officially listed on the stock market. In December 2021, TMTG raised $1 billion in private investment in public equity (PIPE) funding and entered into a technology and cloud services agreement with Rumble, which would operate part of Truth Social and TMTG+, a planned subscription-based streaming service. At the same time, they revealed that the SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) had begun investigating the SPAC's communication with TMTG. The company's board includes Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., Devin Nunes, and former Trump administration officials Robert Lighthizer, Kash Patel, Linda McMahon, and Scott Glabe. Nunes resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives in December 2021 and became the TMTG's chief executive officer in January 2022.
On February 21, 2022, TMTG launched the social network Truth Social. By April 2023, Trump reported earning less than $201 from TMTG. On June 8, 2022, Trump and five others, including Trump Jr., Patel and Glabe left TMTG's board before the SEC and the Manhattan grand jury investigating Trump's business practices issued subpoenas. The grand jury issued subpoenas to the DWAC on June 27 and, along with the SEC, to TMTG on July 1. The board departures were kept secret until they were revealed by the Sarasota Herald-Tribute in July, which TMTG initially denied. In November 2022, the DWAC postponed a vote to complete its merger with TMTG for the 6th time after failing to get the necessary shareholder support. They would extend it again in September 2023, days before it expired.
Throughout 2023, TMTG faced financial and legal difficulties. In March it was reported that New York investigators were looking into whether TMTG had violated anti-money laundering laws by accepting $8 million connected to a Russian oligarch. In July they settled fraud charges brought by the SEC for misleading investors and the SEC and they agreed to pay an $18 million fine upon closing the merger. A November 2023 DWAC financial disclosure expressed substantial doubt about TMTG's ability to meet its financial obligations, showing a $31.5 million loss since inception. On November 21, 2023, TMTG filed a lawsuit seeking $1.5 billion in damages from 20 media outlets for falsely reporting a $73 million loss. Corrected reports showed a net loss of almost $23 million in the first half of 2023 and a total loss of $31.6 million since launch.
On March 22, 2024, DWAC shareholders approved the merger with TMTG, which was completed on March 25, 2024. The combined company began trading under the symbol DJT and finished the day with an $8 billion valuation. In regulatory filings, Lighthizer and McMahon are listed as independent directors. An April 1, 2024, SEC filing revealed that TMTG lost over $58 million in 2023 with only $4 million in advertising revenue from Truth Social. Following criticisms about its auditor, BF Borgers, TMTG fired the firm on May 6, 2024, due to regulatory requirements. In May 2024, the company reported a net loss of $327.6 million for the first quarter of 2024 with $770,500 in revenue. In July 2024, TMTG joined the Russell 1000 and Russell 3000 indexes and raised $105 million through the cash exercise of its warrants. On July 12, 2024, one day before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Austin Private Wealth filed a report indicating that it had shorted 12 million shares of TMTG. Four days later, it amended the filing to 1,200 shares and apologized for its "filing error," which spurred conspiracy theories.
As of the close of business on September 23, 2024, the stock's share price had fallen to $12.15, some 84 percent below its March high of $79.38. However, over the following month, it recovered much of this loss. On November 5 (Election Day), trading was halted twice for volatility.
On December 19, 2024, president-elect Donald Trump transferred all of his shares (nearly 115 million) into a trust controlled by his son, Donald Trump Jr. The intent was to reduce conflict of interest. At the time, these shares were worth about $4 billion.
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On January 28, 2025, its six directors – Kash Patel, Linda McMahon, Robert Lighthizer, Eric Swider, Kyle Green and Donald Trump Jr. – were awarded nearly 26,000 shares each.
On December 31, 2025, the company set its focuses on social media, financial, blockchain and nuclear fusion.
Lighthizer and Swider resigned from the board in March and April 2026, respectively, and Boris Epshteyn was appointed chairman effective April 30. Also in April 2026, Nunes was replaced with interim CEO Kevin McGurn.
From Wikipedia’s article on Trump Media & Technology Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7