Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded shell company, voted Friday to approve a merger with former US President Donald Trump's media company.

This means that the Trump Media & Technology Group, whose main product is the social networking site Truth Social, will soon begin trading on the US tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange.

Trump would own the largest chunk of the combined company: nearly 79 million shares. That, multiplied by Digital World's Thursday closing price of $42.81, would put Trump's total stake at more than $3 billion (€2.8 billion). 

But Trump won't be able to cash in Friday's windfall right away. A "lock-up" provision prevents company insiders from selling newly issued shares for six months.

What is Truth Social?

Truth Social launched in February 2022, a year after Trump was banned from major social platforms like Facebook and Twitter (now known as X) following the January 6 riots at the US Capitol. 

The former president has since been reinstated on both platforms but has stuck with Truth Social as a megaphone for his message.

Trump Media lost $49 million in the first nine months of last year. It brought in $3.4 million in revenue and paid $37.7 million in interest expenses.

The company has not disclosed Truth Social's user numbers. But research firm Similarweb estimates it had about 5 million active mobile and web users in February.

dh/sms (AP, AFP)