Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Digital World Acquisition Corp.
Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: DWAC; (2021–2024)
Industry	Special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC)
Founded	11 December 2020
Defunct	March 2024
Fate	Merged with Trump Media & Technology Group
Website	www.dwacspac.com

Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), founded in 2021, was an American special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring (or merging with) a private company, thus making the private company public without going through the initial public offering process, which often carries significant procedural and regulatory burdens.^[1]^[2] The company was led by CEO and Chairman Patrick Orlando, the founder and CEO of investment consulting and investment banking firm Benessere Capital.^[3] In October 2021, the company announced a proposed merger agreement with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the owner of Truth Social, which completed in March 2024.^[4]^[5]

^ Domonoske, Camila (2020-12-29). "The Spectacular Rise Of SPACs: The Backwards IPO That's Taking Over Wall Street". NPR. Archived from the original on 2021-02-22. So what is a SPAC? A "special purpose acquisition company" is a way for a company to go public without all the paperwork of a traditional IPO, or initial public offering. In an IPO, a company announces it wants to go public, then discloses a lot of details about its business operations. After that, investors put money into the company in exchange for shares. A SPAC flips that process around. Investors pool their money together first, with no idea what company they're investing in. The SPAC goes public as a shell company. The required disclosures are easier than those for a regular IPO, because a pile of money doesn't have any business operations to describe. Then, generally, the SPAC goes out and looks for a real company that wants to go public, and they merge together. The company gets the stock ticker and the pile of money much more quickly than through a normal IPO.
^ Broughton, Kristin; Maurer, Mark (September 22, 2020). "Why Finance Executives Choose SPACs: A Guide to the IPO Rival". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
^ Cite error: The named reference sa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ La Monica, Paul R.; Clark, Adam (March 26, 2024). "Truth Social Owner's Stock Soars as Trump Media Starts Trading Under DJT Ticker". Barron's. Archived from the original on March 26, 2024.
^ "Trump's Social Media Company Will Go Public After Merger With Shell Company Is Approved". HuffPost. 2024-03-22. Retrieved 2024-03-22.

[NPR_1-1] Domonoske, Camila (2020-12-29). "The Spectacular Rise Of SPACs: The Backwards IPO That's Taking Over Wall Street". NPR. Archived from the original on 2021-02-22. So what is a SPAC? A "special purpose acquisition company" is a way for a company to go public without all the paperwork of a traditional IPO, or initial public offering. In an IPO, a company announces it wants to go public, then discloses a lot of details about its business operations. After that, investors put money into the company in exchange for shares. A SPAC flips that process around. Investors pool their money together first, with no idea what company they're investing in. The SPAC goes public as a shell company. The required disclosures are easier than those for a regular IPO, because a pile of money doesn't have any business operations to describe. Then, generally, the SPAC goes out and looks for a real company that wants to go public, and they merge together. The company gets the stock ticker and the pile of money much more quickly than through a normal IPO.

[WSJ_Why_Finance_Executives-2] Broughton, Kristin; Maurer, Mark (September 22, 2020). "Why Finance Executives Choose SPACs: A Guide to the IPO Rival". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

[sa-3] Cite error: The named reference sa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] La Monica, Paul R.; Clark, Adam (March 26, 2024). "Truth Social Owner's Stock Soars as Trump Media Starts Trading Under DJT Ticker". Barron's. Archived from the original on March 26, 2024.

[:0-5] "Trump's Social Media Company Will Go Public After Merger With Shell Company Is Approved". HuffPost. 2024-03-22. Retrieved 2024-03-22.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]