There’s good news and bad news for former US President Donald Trump, who has been grappling with a host of legal issues. He could receive a windfall of around $3 billion, but it might not come in quickly enough to ease his immediate monetary woes.
Struggling to pay a $454 million bond, Trump is likely to get the windfall when the firm, Trump Media and Technology Group, which is behind his social media site Truth Social, goes public. No legal formalities will be required for an initial public offering as Trump Media will merge with an existing shell firm, Digital World Acquisition Corp.
However, though Digital World will be able to officially trade under DJT (Donald J Trump), a listed company, probably by next week for public offerings, things might get complicated as Digital World is also under the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trump is likely to hold more than half of the merged business, estimated at around $3 billion, but he has to settle a $400 million civil fraud case by Monday and he hasn’t been able to get any company to put up the money.
Not paying up would mean facing a six-month jail term, which means Trump will be unable to sell his shares in Trump Media in that period.
What happens next remains to be seen, but given Trump’s unpredictable ways he might just manage to pull off a surprise.