Donald Trump’s new social media company has gotten off to a rocky start.
The twice-impeached former president announced plans to launch his social media platform — one he billed as a free-speech competitor to Twitter, Instagram, and all the other mainstream social media sites he’s since been banned from — late last year. Called Truth Social, Trump’s platform seemed like a good way for him to ditch the archaic press releases he’s been using to communicate with his followers, but his new company has been plagued by problems with investors and the S.E.C., which is currently investigating Trump Media’s planned merger with venture capital company, Digital World Acquisition.
Now, a New York Times report is painting an even bleaker picture of the situation at Trump Media. According to insiders, Trump seriously struggled to get investors to buy in on his latest scheme. Bankers for Trump’s tech group approached dozens of high-powered Wall Street execs, scrambling to find anyone willing to partner with Trump, and consistently came up short.
“Despite the opportunity to invest in a deal whose terms were structured to make a profit for investors,” the Times wrote, “many of Wall Street’s big names passed.”
The situation reportedly got so desperate that Trump started trying to sell himself in order to land the deal. After over a dozen hedge funds passed on the investment opportunity, Trump’s team started dangling personal phone calls from the former president as an incentive for anyone willing to contribute $100 million to his venture. Later, after few investors took the bait, the offer was scaled to just $50 million in exchange for a personal call from Trump. Apparently, many of the reputable hedge funds Trump first approached were hesitant to do business with him because of his reputation for bankruptcies, his polarizing political platform, all of the lawsuits he’s fielding with past vendors, and because no one really knows the true value of the company. As of now, Trump Media has yet to disclose any potential revenue or products.
But in case you’ve got a few million to spare and a weird desire to hear an aging real estate tycoon rant about toilets and water pressure, the offer probably still stands.
(Via The New York Times)