London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

SPAC linked to Trump's social media venture surges for second day

SPAC linked to Trump's social media venture surges for second day

Shares of the blank-check acquisition company that plans to publicly list former U.S. President Donald Trump's new social media venture soared again on Friday, more than doubling in value with trading halted multiple times due to volatility.
Digital World Acquisition (DWAC.O), a Miami-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), closed up 107% at $94.20 on Nasdaq after earlier hitting a high of $175.

Digital World soared more than 350% on Thursday, a day after the deal was announced, giving it a market capitalization of almost $1.5 billion on news it would merge with Trump's media company to create a social media app called TRUTH Social.

Its recent trading was reminiscent of the meme stock frenzy earlier this year, when an army of retail investors coordinated on online forums to drive shares of GameStop Corp (GME.N), AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC.N) and other stocks.

"This feels like a meme stock. This looks like AMC and GameStop all over again," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.

Data from brokerage Fidelity showed Digital World was the most traded stock on its platform on Thursday. It was the most discussed stock on trading-focused social media site Stocktwits, a platform commonly seen as a measure of interest from retail investors. Message volumes on Stocktwits related to the SPAC were up more than 9,000%.

Social media giants suspended Trump's accounts after his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In a press release announcing the deal, Trump said, "I'm excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech."

With almost 500 million shares changing hands on Thursday, Digital World topped GameStop trading volume of 197 million at the peak of the meme stock frenzy in January.

The stock traded about 130 million shares on Friday, surpassing the free float of 22.8 million shares, based on Refinitiv data.

"There's a tremendous amount of Trump supporters in the country who are going to just clamor to get some exposure to Donald Trump in whatever way they can," said Eric Diton, managing director of investment advisory firm The Wealth Alliance.

The shares of at least one other company linked to the Republican former president also saw large gains. Phunware Inc (PHUN.O), a software company hired by Trump's 2020 presidential re-election campaign to build a phone app, had its share price rise as much as 1,471% on Friday. It closed up around 471% at $8.74.

Hedge funds that invested in Digital World are set to make five times their investment, regulatory filings showed, while Patrick Orlando, who backs the SPAC, is likely to see a $420 million windfall from the surge in shares.

But not all were buyers. Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein said that he sold his firm Saba Capital Management's holdings in Digital World early on Thursday as news emerged that it was merging with Trump's new media venture.

"I knew that for Saba the right thing was to sell our entire stake of unrestricted shares, which we have now done," Weinstein said in a statement. "Many investors are grappling with hard questions about how to incorporate their values into their work. For us, this was not a close call."

Trump Media and Technology Group said it would receive $293 million in cash that Digital World had in a trust if no shareholder of the acquisition firm chose to cash in their shares.

Reporting by Medha Singh, Sruthi Shankar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru and Ira Iosebashvili and Sinéad Carew in New York; Editing by Will Dunham, Shounak Dasgupta and Philippa Fletcher
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
×