Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) jumped 50% Tuesday in its Nasdaq debut.
The company appears more than two years after announcing its merger with DWAC with a blank check. It is a company offered on the stock market and is dedicated only to acquiring companies and has no commercial or other activity. After the offering, the company places the subscription proceeds in a trust fund, while it searches for a company to acquire.
Trump Media, the owner of Truth Social, completed its merger with the shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp. on Monday, allowing it to go public and adding nearly $4 billion in paper gains to Donald Trump’s net worth.
At $67 per share, the company's market cap was $9.08 billion. Trading in the shares was briefly halted due to volatility just after the opening bell.
The 45th US President Donald Trump's stake in TMTG was last valued at $5.28 billion, although the six-month lockdown restrictions may prevent him from selling his stake or borrowing against it.
Trading in Trump Media & Technology Group was briefly halted amid the rally due to volatility before resuming around 9:40 a.m. New York time, before the stock settled at a close of $59.
More than 6.5 million shares of Trump Media were traded as of 9:50 a.m.
Trump's experience is his second with the New York Stock Exchange, which he entered three decades ago through his hotel and casino company amid great fanfare in 1995. That stock was ignominiously delisted from the New York Stock Exchange nine years later.
Shares of Digital World, now TMTG and trading under the ticker DJT, are up more than 35% today.
Trump faces four criminal trials in his race for the US presidency, and is struggling to raise money for his campaign and legal expenses.
