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The former US President Donald Trump shall launch his own
social media App, TRUTH social that he said would stand up to the big tech
companies such as Twitter and Facebook that have barred him from their
platforms.
According to a press release, TRUTH social will be created
through a new company formed by a merger of the Trump Media and Technology
Group and a special acquisition company (SPAC) distribution by both.
In the same release, Trump said that "We live in a world
where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American
President has been silenced. This is unacceptable." He added “I am excited
to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH social very soon. TMTG was founded with a
mission to begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH social and to fight back agonist
Big Tech.
The social network set for beta launched next month and full
rollout in the first quarter of 2022, is the first of three stages in the
company’s plans followed by a subscription video-on-demand service called TMTG+
that will feature entertainment, news, and podcasts, according to a news
release. In a slide deck on its website, the company envisions eventually
competing against Amazon. coms AWS cloud service and Google Cloud.
Trump's representative who declined to be named confirmed
the contents of the TMTG news release to Reuters. Trump spokesperson Liz
Harrington also tweeted a copy. Trump's son Donald Trump Jr told Fox News that
"for so long, big tech has suppressed conservative voices" tonight my
father signed a definitive merger agreement to form what will ultimately be the
Trump Media and Technology Group and TRUTH social, a platform for everyone to
express their feelings.
Twitter, Facebook banned Trump from their services after
hundreds of his supporter's rioted at the US capitol on January 6. That protest
came after a speech by Trump in which he falsely claimed that his November
election loss was due to widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple
courts and state election officials. The deal will list Trump Media and
Technology Group on NASDAQ through a merger with Digital World. Acquisition
Corp, a blank-check acquisition firm led by former investment banker Patrick
Orlando.
According to the statement, Trump Media and Technology Group
will receive $293M in cash that Digital World Acquisition Corp had trust in,
assuming no shareholder of the Acquisition firm chooses to redeem their shares.
Orlando who has worked at Deutsche Bank and BT Capital Markets has launched at
least four SPACs and has plans for two more according to his firm’s website and
regulatory filings but none of the SPACs have completed a deal yet.
A China-based SPACS THAT Orlando let failed last month to
complete a merger with Giga Energy inc that world has valued the transportation
solutions provider at $7.3bn because it couldn't deliver the cash required
according to regulatory filings.
Shareholders' redemptions reduce the amount of cash that
Digital World Acquisition Corp Will have available to five to Trump Media and
Technology Group at the closing of the deal. In a statement, the company said
that completion of the merger is subject to redemptions not exceeding an agreed
minimum cash requirement. The statement did not disclose what the requirement
is though that detail is typically contained in a regulatory filing that should
follow on Thursday.
According to the news release, the deal values Trump Media
and Technology Group at $875m including debt.