Watch: CNN Forced to Talk About Trump's Massive Financial Opportunity if Truth Social Goes Public
Someone note the date: CNN actually reported on what it called potentially “good news” for former President Donald Trump.
After The Washington Post reported last week that the Securities and Exchange Commission had approved a proposed merger between the Trump Media and Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition — an approval that the Post referred to as “a victory for Trump” — CNN took a look at what that merger might mean for the former president’s net worth.
It’s unlikely that they were happy about what they found about the value of the shares of Truth Social held by Trump, although I have to admit that they did a fairly good job in this short clip of keeping the most obvious symptoms of their Trump Derangement Syndrome tamped down.
“Back in 2022 it was about $700 million,” CNN senior political data reporter Harry Enten said. “Last year, it was less than $100 million.
“But, there’s this idea essentially that Truth Social will in fact be able to go public. And how much would Trump’s shares be worth if it does in fact go public?
“It could be upwards of $4 billion — that’s billion with a b, not million with an m,” he said.
He pointed out that Trump, 77, would be unable to sell the stocks for six months after the merger — a period explained by the Post’s original article as a “lockup” that could potentially be waived by Digital World Acquisition.
The Post speculated that the merger could take place in April, meaning Trump would have the ability to sell his shares in October, potentially, if not earlier.
The Post did not speculate — at least not in writing — about how that $4 billion might be used to pay for last-minute presidential campaign expenses, or to repay lenders who were willing to view Trump’s Truth Social holdings as collateral.
Of course, there is always the possibility that the stock could lose value over those six months.
“The fact is,” Enten concluded, “we’ve had all this bad news for Trump. This could be good financial news for Donald Trump.”
CNN analyzes Trump’s Truth Social merger
“How much would Trump’s shares be worth if it does in fact go public? It could be upwards of $4 billion. That’s billion with a B—not million with an M”
They’re trying to shut down his empire and he’s getting richer 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aHahi8FcgS
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) February 19, 2024
The Post’s piece was, of course, filled with caveats about how Trump’s wealth wasn’t real money — they found one professor of finance, for example, who told the outlet that the potential $4 billion amounted only to “paper wealth … with the emphasis on ‘paper,’ since his [Trump Media] shares cannot currently be sold.”
They also mentioned a number of potential obstacles still remaining before the merger can go through, which is not exactly uncommon in such a complex transaction.
All things considered, however, this is potentially very good news for the former president — so good, in fact, that even the TDS-afflicted folks over at CNN felt obliged to report it.
And that’s a rare event worth taking note of.
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