By Helen Coster and Svea Herbst-Bayliss
(Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump came a step closer on Friday to reaping a major windfall from his social media firm after investors in a blank-check acquisition company approved a tie-up currently worth about $6 billion.
The deal values Trump’s majority stake in the company that holds his app Truth Social at about $3.6 billion. The windfall could prove vital as Trump grapples with the financial fallout of a string of legal cases against him, including a $454 million judgment in a civil fraud case in New York.
Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), the SPAC that plans to list Trump Media & Technology Group on the stock market through a merger, voted in favor of the deal on Friday.
While the next step would be for the deal to be completed next week, its future is fraught with uncertainty. Digital World’s former CEO Patrick Orlando and former Trump business associates Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss have separately sued to block the merger, arguing they are entitled to more shares for their previous work on the deal.
It’s unclear how and when these cases will be resolved. Even if the deal gets completed next week, Trump will not be allowed to sell any of his shares in the combined company for six months or borrow against them, based on terms he previously agreed.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Rhode Island; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis)
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