Donald Trump, right, and producer Andy Litinsky, left, attend the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on March 9, 2011.
Michael Kovac | Wireimage | Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump was accused in a lawsuit on Wednesday of trying to “drastically dilute” the value of stock shares in his social media company held by the firm’s co-founders, potentially depriving them of hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.
The partnership, United Atlantic Ventures, alleges that Trump Media & Technology Group engaged in “wrongful 11th hour … maneuvering” to dilute UAV’s minority stake in the media company, a court filing says.
The Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit comes in advance of the planned merger of TMTG with a shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., which would result in the shares of the combined entity being publicly traded.
If DWAC shareholders approve the merger next month, Trump’s 90% stake in TMTG could be valued at more than $3 billion, given DWAC’s current share price.
On Thursday, an investment vehicle controlled by former DWAC Chairman and CEO Patrick Orlando sued in Chancery court to block the merger unless it receives a larger number of shares from the combination than DWAC proposes, Reuters reported.
The news service noted that TMTG and DWAC on Tuesday sued Orlando and his Arc Global Investments II vehicle in Florida, claiming that he is trying to “obtain a windfall by extortion.”
UAV is a partnership of Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, who initially pitched Trump the idea of creating Trump Media in February 2021, after the former president was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Both Litinsky and Moss were contestants on Trump’s television show “The Apprentice.”
Donald Trump attends the “Celebrity Apprentice” red carpet event at Trump Tower in New York City on Jan. 5, 2015.
Mike Pont | FilmMagic | Getty Images
TMTG later built and launched Truth Social, the social…
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