The… ticker symbol #DJT, last price $31.45 — is something unprecedented in financial or political history. It represents a company, #Trump Media & Technology Group, that has a single product,…Truth Social. The business operates at a staggering loss & is widely considered worthless. But the stock, DJT, has a market capitalization of roughly $6B.…Its value is purely a proxy for Trump’s political power.

#criminal #law #corruption#FEC
#VoteBlue#Harris2024
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-truth-social-djt-stock-corruption.html

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Taking #Trump public may not have been possible w/o the rise of an obscure financial instrument, the special-purpose-acquisition company [#SPAC]. In 2020, the pandemic stock market was surging, & the perception among entrepreneurs was that SPACs let private companies get in on the action quicker & w/less #oversight than the traditional way of going public, the #IPO.

#criminal #law#FEC#SEC
#VoteBlue#Harris2024

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…In simplified form, the process involves 2 basic parties. One is a private company that wants to go public. The other is a #ShellCompany that is already trading on the #StockMarket but has no operations — just a pile of cash that it can use to acquire a business. #SPAC shells are often called “#BlankCheck” companies because their investors have given them a certain amount of money but have no idea yet who the check will be made out to.

#criminal#Trump #law#FEC#SEC
#VoteBlue#Harris2024

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That’s one of the most obvious guidelines set by the government. SPACs can’t approach a target until after they’ve raised their capital.

Very little about #Trump Media signaled to investors that Truth Social would be a well-run business, & that included its new CEO. The board selected #DevinNunes, a right-wing California congressman who resigned his seat to take the job in December 2021. Nunes had never led a #technology or #media company.

#criminal #law#FEC#SEC
#VoteBlue#Harris2024

Rather, #DevinNunes was a close #Trump ally who had received bipartisan criticism for his efforts to undermine the #FBI’s investigation into #Russia’s 2016 #ElectionInterference as well as widespread mockery for his tendency to sue his detractors for #defamation. His legal targets included Esquire, CNN, the McClatchy newspaper chain, an anonymous Twitter user who pretended to be his mother, & another poster who pretended to be the congressman’s cow.
#criminal #law#FEC#SEC
#VoteBlue#Harris2024