Why did Digital World Acquisition stock rocket today? The Trump CEO effect
Dec. 08, 2021 4:40 PM ETDigital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC)PHUN, BENEW, DWACU, DWACWBy: Joshua Fineman, SA News Editor169 Comments
Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images News
- SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:DWAC), which announced a deal to take former president Donald Trump's social media company public in October, surged 28% today after gaining 17% yesterday on news of a CEO for Trump Media & Technology Group.
- The Trump social media company announced on Monday that Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) will retire from Congress and take the role of chief executive officer of Donald Trump's social media platform in January, which will launch Truth Social.
- It appears that DWAC was likely gaining today due at least partly to promotion on social media from posters on Twitter and StockTwits.
- The Nunes news came after Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) and Trump Media confirmed over the weekend that they would be getting a $1B PIPE investment for the new company, which Reuters last week said would value the new entity at about $3B.
- Today's, and to some extent yesterday's, move might be a bit of a surprise to some after DWAC said on Monday that it was being probed by the SEC and other regulators relating its dealings with Trump Media.
- The SEC probe into DWAC followed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sending a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler last month requesting that the agency investigate the transaction. The Warren request came after a New York Times report that Trump's recent deal with DWAC may have skirted securities laws.
- Digital World Acquisition warrants (NASDAQ:DWACW) jumped 30% today and Digital World Acquisition units (NASDAQ:DWACU) soared 28%. Application software company Phunware Inc. (NASDAQ:PHUN), which has previously had ties to Donald Trump's campaign, also jumped 21% today.
- Warrants of Benessere Capital Acquisition (NASDAQ:BENEW), a SPAC that is also run by Digital World (DWAC) founder Patrick Orlando, rose 18%. Benessere late last month announced a deal to take hydrogen supplier eCombustible public.
- Earlier: Can Trump fans make Digital World Acquisition the next GameStop?
- Dear Readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion.