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What is Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s Social Media Company?

by Chris Lee Susanto 

11 September 2022

Truth Social was launched in February 2022. More than one year after Mr. Trump was banned from most social media platforms.

What is Truth Social about?

truth social stock

Source: Truth Social

Based on Truth Social’s website, they are “America’s “Big Tent” social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology.”

Right now, Truth Social is only for U.S. users.

The New York Times did an article review of Truth Social, and in summary, it said:

  1. The Trump-backed social media app is full of phony accounts and features that do not work
  2. It hides some posts, including those with curse words

Truth Social surged to number 1 in Apple’s app store on the week of April 27, 2022.

Truth Social’s focus is for it to be an alternative to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, from which Mr. Trump was banned.

How Will Truth Social Go Public?

Truth Social is under TMTG, which stands for Trump Media & Technology Group.

A SPAC called Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) is planning to take TMTG/Truth Social public.

Based on the latest updates in an article by WSJ on September 9, 2022, DWAC will pay nearly $3 million to add three more months to complete the SPAC deal.

DWAC failed to get investor approval for a one-year extension to its merger deadline. They needed 65% shareholder approval for a one-year extension but had difficulty getting individual investors to vote.

In December, DWAC can pay another $3 million to extend the deadline by a further three months.

Will Truth Social Go Public?

There are delays with the merger for TMTG/Truth Social to IPO via SPAC due to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors on how the deal came about.

“The SEC has needlessly delayed its review of our proposed merger, causing real and unnecessary financial harm to DWAC investors,” – TMTG

SPAC typically have around two years to complete a deal, or they have to return the cash they raised to shareholders.

In July 2022, Bill Ackman, the famous value hedge fund manager, wound up his SPAC, returning $4 billion to investors.

So right now, it is not certain if Truth Social will go public as an SEC investigation is still underway.

Furthermore, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has also declined Mr. Trump’s application to trademark the name “Truth Social” as two other companies already use the same wording, according to a report from Axios.

What Will TMTG Get for Going Public?

The SPAC merger could give Mr. Trump’s company up to $1.3 billion in cash.

Will I Buy Truth Social Stock If It Goes Public?

In August, with rumors that Truth Social is facing financial problems, Mr. Trump wrote in Truth Social:

“The Fake News Media is devastated by how well TRUTH is doing so, quite on cue, they are working overtime to criticize and demean it. Actually, many of the big guns in Washington, D.C., are fighting to stop the TRUTH but, they won’t be successful. They are going after the outside financial company, and virtually anybody that walks and breaths, but that won’t do it. They said it is doing worse since the Raid, but actually it is doing MUCH better, up more than 550%. We all love TRUTH!!!”

Based on the information I have right now, even if Trump Media & Technology Group/Truth Social succeeds in going public, it is unlikely that I will find it attractive enough to buy its shares.

Based on what I see now, Truth Social banks too much on Mr. Trump’s popularity and is unlikely to have a strong and sustainable competitive advantage.

Furthermore, price-wise, it’s unlikely to be of good value too. The DWAC SPAC stock went up to as much as $97.54, even though the company’s cash value is only around $10. The SPAC is currently trading at $24 (as of 11 September 2022). More than double it’s cash value.

Overall, it does not look appealing or attractive to me but will be interesting to follow the news and see what happens.


Disclosure:

I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Disclaimer:

The information provided is for educational and general information purposes only and is not intended to be personalized investment or financial advice. We make no promises as to the accuracy or usefulness of the information we present.

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Chris Susanto

Chris Susanto

Founder of Re-ThinkWealth.com and VIM (Value Investing Mentorship Club®).

Member of the Board of Directors at Bansea, Asia’s oldest angel investment network founded in 2001, based in Singapore. He is also an Independent Director in Bansea Fund 2.

Chris started investing in stocks early at age 21 and is a big proponent of business-like stock investing – a mixture of both value and growth investing.

He invests in listed companies where there is value to be found (as long as it is still within his circle of competence), be it a turnaround, depressed, value, or quality growth company (compounders).

Some of the places where Chris has been invited to speak or has added value as a mentor or writer include Singapore Polytechnic, SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE), Seedly TV, Dollars and Sense, The New Savvy, Value Walk Blog, Investment Moats, NUS Tembusu College, NUS Investment Society, CGS-CIMB Singapore, Singapore Financial Conference by NTU IIC, The Financial Coconut Podcast, Money FM 89.3 and Internationally in Myanmar.

Chris is also a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation. 

“Meditation, more than any other factor, has been the reason for what success I’ve had. Meditation leads to openness, to freedom, where a kind of intuition just comes through. You could step back and put things in perspective” – Ray Dalio on Transcendental Meditation, founder of the largest hedge fund in the world with $140 Billion under management

For aspiring students keen to be interviewed for VIM, click here.

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