Donald Trump’s dream of becoming a social media Mogul was dealt a body blow as Elon Musk acquired Twitter in an all-cash deal. Shares of the disgraced former president’s Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) were down close to 13%. That brings its year-to-date losses to more than 30% and closed on Monday at $35.71.
That makes it the lowest level for the prices of shares since Donald Trump’s deal was announced in October 2021. The selloff comes even as Elon Musk reached a deal to take over Twitter, the social media giant that Donald Trump had vowed to take on. At one stage, the stocks were down by around 19%.
Trump Media recently announced Truth Social, a clone of Twitter that was aimed at conservatives. Trump’s claims were silenced by Twitter.
Matthew Kennedy of Renaissance Capital said that there was no need to download Truth Social if one could get it on Twitter. Since Elon Musk was annoyed that he had picked up a stake in Twitter, Digital World lost 44% of its earlier value.
Donald Trump’s Answer To Twitter Has Faced Multiple Issues From The Start
Donald Trump’s DWAC has fashioned itself as a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, a publicly-traded company created to merge or acquire an existing company.
Truth Social is Trump’s answer to Twitter and was launched on Apple in February 2022.
Trump has marketed his company as the alternative to both Facebook and Twitter, and both have banned him for inciting January 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol. The new social platform has been doomed from the start, with key executives departing and serious technical glitches.
Musk, on the other hand, has vowed to transform the censorship policies of Twitter, saying that he would add extra features and keep the algorithm open source and win the trust of followers.
Trump has revealed that he wouldn’t return to Facebook or Twitter even after it changes hands and said he would post instead of on Truth Social. He has only posted on the app once since its launch.
