Trump-linked media company DWAC ousts CEO

208
2
Trump-linked media company DWAC ousts CEO

Digital World Acquisition Corp, a blank-check firm that is set to merge with former U.S. President Donald Trump's media and technology company, said on Wednesday it had ousted Chief Executive Patrick Orlando.

The Board agreed in a news release that it was in the best interest of shareholders to select a new management team to execute an orderly succession plan and set strategic operating procedures for the Company in this new phase due to the unprecedented headwinds faced by the Company.

In October 2021, Trump's newly formed media company, Trump Media Technology Group TMTG announced a deal to go public by merging with DWAC. The deal is now in doubt due to investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.

The deadline to close the deal was approved by shareholders last year. Around that time DWAC left its chief financial officer and two independent directors.

The challenges for both DWAC and TMTG, which operates the Truth Social app, have continued this year. TMTG founders launched the company as a way to connect with followers after he was cut off from major social media platforms following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his followers. The fortunes of TMTG are tied to Trump, who the company bills as its chief traffic driver.

Trump has returned to the platforms from which he was ousted. He posted to Alphabet Inc's YouTube and Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook on March 17, the same day YouTube restored his channel. Meta reinstated Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts earlier this year.

Trump's Twitter account was reinstated in November by the platform's new owner Elon Musk, but Trump has yet to post there.

A Blank-check firm, known as SPAC, raises cash to acquire a private company, allowing the target to sidestep the stricter regulatory checks of an initial public offering.

Shares of DWAC were down 3.67 per cent on Wednesday morning.