The Truth social community brand is seen displayed behind a lady holding a smartphone on this image illustration taken February 21, 2022.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
A South Florida actual property government has stop the board of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the blank-check firm that agreed to take former President Donald Trump’s media firm public, in response to a securities submitting Wednesday.
Justin Shaner, the CEO of Shaner Properties within the Miami-Fort Lauderdale space, resigned from DWAC’s board of administrators Friday, the submitting stated.
The transfer got here days earlier than DWAC’s shareholder assembly, which is scheduled for Nov. 22. DWAC’s CEO, Patrick Orlando, has adjourned the assembly a number of occasions in latest months as he seeks shareholder approval to delay his firm’s merger with Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the Truth Social app, by a few yr.
The DWAC-Trump Media deal is being investigated by federal prosecutors and regulators. Will Wilkerson, a former Trump Media government, turned over paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission and filed a whistleblower criticism, claiming misrepresentations by the businesses.
DWAC will possible liquidate if the merger deadline is not delayed by early December.
Shaner did not instantly return a request for remark, nor did DWAC. “The resignation of Mr. Shaner didn’t outcome from any disagreement with the Company regarding any matter regarding the Company’s operations, insurance policies or practices,” DWAC stated in Wednesday’s submitting.
Shaner was a board member on one other Orlando-run blank-check firm, Benessere Capital Acquisition Corp., which can also be beneath investigation by federal authorities in connection to probes into DWAC. In June, Benessere and a few of its administrators had been subpoenaed by the SEC and a federal grand jury within the Southern District of New York, in response to filings.
Benessere stated in October that it will liquidate after a merger cope with one other firm, eCombustible Energy, fell by way of. Benessere had stated the SEC’s probe delayed its registration assertion, in response to securities filings. Trump Media has additionally blamed regulators for the delay of its merger with DWAC.
Shares of DWAC fell 16% to $21.29 Wednesday, the day after Trump introduced he would run for president in 2024. The inventory is properly off its excessive for the yr, $101.87, which it hit in March.
Trump himself is beneath federal felony investigation, whereas his principal enterprise, the Trump Organization, is on trial in New York.
He based Truth Social after he was banned from Twitter for his posts on Jan. 6, 2021, when tons of of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an in the end failed try and overturn Joe Biden’s victory within the 2020 election. New Twitter proprietor and CEO Elon Musk has stated he would let Trump again on the social community, the place the previous president had about 88 million followers. He has about 4 million followers on Truth Social.
– CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.