Donald Trump's estimated net worth doubled when the owner of Truth Social closed the deal to go public

New York
CNN
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Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, has completed its IPO deal, handing former President Donald Trump a massive windfall that more than doubled his net worth.

After Trump Media announced it would enter the stock market for the first time on Tuesday, Trump joined the world's 500 richest people for the first time. Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bloomberg estimated that Trump's net worth rose by $4 billion on Monday alone, giving him a fortune of $6.5 billion.

The closing of the merger between Trump Media Inc. and Digital World Acquisition Corp. represents a multibillion-dollar windfall for Trump, who is chairman and controlling shareholder of the new company.

News of the merger's completion sent Digital World's shares soaring 21%. The buying continued Monday afternoon, sending Digital World up 39% on the day to around $51. At current prices, Trump's stake is worth about $4 billion. However, there are closed restrictions that will likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against the value of this stock for several months.

The companies said that trading of the new company under the stock symbol “DJT” on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

Devin Nunes, CEO of the combined company, said in a statement that the company will move to “take back the Internet from Big Tech's censorship.”

“We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe haven for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of oppressors of expression,” Nunes said.

Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp (Doak), the shell company that now owns Truth Social, rose more than 20% on Monday. The stock is up more than 170% over the past six months.

Experts warn that the market is overvaluing Trump Media given the company's fundamentals.

According to Trump Media, it generated just $3.4 million in revenue during the first nine months of last year second filings. The company recorded a net loss of $49 million during that period.

On the other hand, Truth Social's user base is shrinking – more than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.

The number of monthly active users of Truth Social in the US on iOS and Android fell 39% year over year, according to similar data shared with CNN earlier this month.

In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, DWAC stock trading embodied the same kind of madness described in Tupperware shares rise Last July, or meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop during the height of the pandemic. On Truth Social, there are more than 8,000 members in a chat group titled “The DWAC Shareholder Group,” where users discuss shareholder voting. To approve the merge and post supportive memes and messages.

Contributing: CNN's Elizabeth Buchwald and Crystal Hoare.

This story has been updated with additional context.