Red Flags
3 Red Flags About Trump’s Social Media Company That Scream Fraud
Is TMTG just another bad SPAC investment, or are we watching securities fraud in real-time
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Donald Trump just bought his lawyer a new yacht. This realization slapped me upside the head like a sledgehammer 30 seconds after opening Trump Media and Technology Group Corporation’s (TMTG) pitch deck. While political commentators yammered about Trump’s return to social media — a triumph or catastrophe depended on the network — TMTG broke the cardinal rule of publicly traded companies and those merging with them.
Don’t mislead investors.
And no one mentioned it. I guess everyone was too distracted by Trump’s shiny new do-it-yourself social media account.
Let me be clear. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not reviewed Digital World Acquisition Corporation’s (DWAC) acquisition of TMTG. A merger announcement is far from a done deal; just ask Aetna and Humana. Nothing suggests this is a good business deal for anyone other than DWAC’s founding members, who have likely cashed out already , and Trump, who has a sweet earnout bonus. However, this is not just another bad SPAC investment.
Everything released by TMTG about their company screams securities fraud, starting with the pitch deck they call a “corporate overview.”
What finances?
TMTG, a company supposedly valued at $875 million, released a pitch deck with no dollar signs. Before you make excuses about this screwball document not being intended for investors, check the disclaimer on page twenty-two. Yes, that’s a non-GAAP financial metrics disclaimer paired with the standard “consult your advisors before investing” bit. It’s for potential investors, no question about that.
So I went on a fishing expedition, looking for the essential financial information private companies provide when they’re merging with a publicly-traded company. It should look like DraftKing’s investor presentation published by Eagle Investment Partners, the SPAC in that merger. I dug through DWAC’s SEC filings, including the Agreement and Plan of Merger filed as Exhibit 2.1 on their most recent 8-K, and…
