XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, or.politics, rec.arts.tv   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.atheism   
   From: patriot1@protonmail.com   
      
   Trump’s Truth Social has lost $73 million since its launch, faces   
   potential shutdown   
      
       Trump Media and Technology Group, Truth Social’s parent company, lost   
   $50 million in the fiscal year ending Dec. 2022 and $23 million in the   
   first half of 2023.   
       The losses come as TMTG tries to go public via a merger with a special   
   purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.   
       An SEC filing stated that without the merger, Truth Social may not   
   survive.   
      
      
   Truth Social, the brain child of former President Donald Trump, is   
   hemorrhaging cash.   
      
   The alternative social media platform has lost $73 million in the less   
   than two years since it launched, according to a new filing from Digital   
   World Acquisition Corporation   
      
   , or DWAC, the special purpose acquisition company aiming to take Trump   
   Media and Technology Group, or TMTG, public.   
      
   In its first fiscal year ending Dec. 2022, TMTG, Truth Social’s parent   
   company, lost over $50 million on $1.4 million in sales. In the first half   
   of 2023, it has lost an additional $23 million on $2.3 million in sales,   
   according to the filing.   
      
   The news of the losses comes as Trump faces a slew of criminal   
   investigations, while also leading the polls among the 2024 Republican   
   presidential candidates. President Joe Biden’s campaign made a Truth   
   Social account in October and gained more followers on the platform than   
   Trump’s own campaign account.   
      
   As Truth Social bleeds, the potential merger with DWAC has become an   
   existential necessity for TMTG.   
      
   The filing said that TMTG’s negative cash flow and persistent losses have   
   raised “substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to continue   
   operating in its current state. Merging with DWAC would provide sufficient   
   capital to pay off TMTG’s heavy debt load, and keep operations going as   
   cash flow falters.   
      
   DWAC announced on Monday that it filed an S-4 form with the Securities and   
   Exchange Commission, the next step to proceed with the TMTG merger. TMTG   
   CEO Devin Nunes called the move a “monumental milestone” in the pursuit of   
   a merger and remained optimistic about the future of Truth Social.   
      
   “Truth Social aims to be more than a social media platform-we aspire to   
   become the centerpiece of a movement, as well as a method for Americans to   
   invest in their freedom,” Nunes added in a statement.   
      
   If the merger does not happen, the filing noted that TMTG would become   
   unable to “fully develop” Truth Social.   
      
   Truth Social was born in Feb. 2022 after Trump was banned from several   
   mainstream social media sites like Twitter and Facebook following the Jan.   
   6 storming of the U.S. Capitol carried out by many Trump supporters.   
      
   Given that origin story, Truth Social has branded itself as a safe haven   
   from “Big Tech censorship,” a vision that must be realized for Truth   
   Social to maintain any sort of competitive advantage, according to the   
   filing.   
      
   The filing pointed out that the new leadership of X, which was bought by   
   Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Oct. 2022, has put more of an emphasis on free   
   speech, which could heighten competition for Truth Social’s user base and   
   threaten the success of the brand.   
      
   Trump returned to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in August,   
   though he has said Truth Social is still his primary social media   
   platform.   
      
   Trump’s presence on Truth Social started as a boon for the company but has   
   now become a crutch. The filing noted that if Trump stopped devoting   
   “substantial time to Truth Social” or if he “fails to retain the public’s   
   interest,” then TMTG would financially suffer even more.   
      
   But even the former president’s loyalty to Truth Social may not be enough   
   to keep the platform afloat on its own.   
      
   “TMTG may not be successful in its efforts to grow and monetize Truth   
   Social,” said the filing.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)