S-1 1 d265650ds1.htm S-1 S-1
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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 27, 2022

Registration No. 333-[    ]

 

 

 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Under

The Securities Act of 1933

 

 

Digital World Acquisition Corp.*

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   6770   85-4293042
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  (Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

78 SW 7th Street

Miami, Florida 33130

(305) 735-1517

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

Patrick Orlando

Chief Executive Officer

Digital World Acquisition Corp.

78 SW 7th Street

Miami, Florida 33130

(305) 735-1517

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies to:

 

Barry I. Grossman, Esq.

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

1345 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10105-0302

(212) 370-1300

 

John F. Haley, Esq.

Jonathan H. Talcott, Esq.

Andrew M. Tucker, Esq.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

2 South Biscayne Blvd., 21st Floor

Miami, Florida 33131

(305) 373-9400

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box.  ☒

If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer      Accelerated filer  
Non-accelerated filer      Smaller reporting company  
     Emerging growth company  

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

 

*

Upon the closing of the business combination with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., Digital World Acquisition Corp. will change its name to “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.”.

 

 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission acting pursuant to said Section 8(a) may determine.

 

 

 


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EXPLANATORY NOTE

This registration statement registers the resale by the selling securityholders named in this prospectus (or their permitted transferees) (the “Selling Securityholders”) of up to 100,000,100 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “New Digital World common stock”) of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (“Digital World”) (the “PIPE Shares”) issuable upon conversion of Digital World Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Preferred Stock”), which Preferred Stock is expected to be issued to certain of the Selling Securityholders in private placements pursuant to the terms of securities purchase agreements between such investors and Digital World, dated December 4, 2021 (such securities purchase agreements, as amended, the “SPAs”), in connection with, and immediately prior to the consummation of, the business combination between Digital World and Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (“TMTG”) described in the prospectus included in this registration statement (the “Business Combination”). In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, each share of Digital World Class A Common Stock, including the PIPE Shares, will be reclassified as a share of common stock of TMTG.

At the time of execution of the SPAs, the Preferred Stock was initially convertible into 29,761,905 shares of New Digital World common stock based on an initial conversion price of $33.60. The conversion price is subject to downward adjustment at various times as described herein, including at the time of the closing of the Business Combination. As of May 24, 2022, if the Business Combination was closed on such date, the shares of Preferred Stock would be convertible into 38,580,285 shares of New Digital World common stock. However, because the adjustment is dependent on the price of the New Digital World common stock at such time and that cannot be determined, we have used the initial conversion amount throughout this prospectus, except for purposes of determining the maximum number of shares to be sold pursuant hereto. We will reflect the final initial conversion amount at the time the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part goes effective.

The PIPE Shares will not be issued and outstanding at the time of the special meeting of Digital World’s stockholders relating to the Business Combination. Further, the holders of the Preferred Stock and PIPE Shares will not receive any proceeds from the trust account established in connection with Digital World’s initial public offering in the event Digital World does not consummate an initial business combination by the September 8, 2022 deadline set forth in Digital World’s Certificate of Incorporation. In the event the conditions precedent to the consummation of the Business Combination are not met or waived, neither the Preferred Stock nor underlying PIPE Shares will be issued and Digital World will seek to withdraw this registration statement prior to its effectiveness.


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The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities, nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

Subject to Completion, dated May 27, 2022

100,000,100 Shares of Common Stock

Digital World Acquisition Corp.

This prospectus relates to the resale by the selling securityholders named in this prospectus (or their permitted transferees) (the “Selling Securityholders”) of (i) up to 100,000,100 shares of New Digital World common stock (as defined herein) (the “PIPE Shares”) to be issuable upon conversion of Digital World Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Preferred Stock”), which are expected to be issued to certain of the Selling Securityholders in private placements pursuant to the terms of the SPAs (as defined herein) in connection with, and immediately prior to the consummation of, the Business Combination (as defined herein) between Digital World Acquisition Corp. (“Digital World”) and Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (“TMTG”)). If the Business Combination is not consummated, the PIPE Shares will not be issued. No issuances or sales of securities will be made pursuant to this prospectus until after the Business Combination has been consummated.

On October 20, 2021 (as amended by the First Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 11, 2022, and as it may be further amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Merger Agreement”), by and among Digital World, Merger Sub (as defined herein), TMTG, and ARC Global Investments II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, the parties entered into the Merger Agreement whereby, if adopted, (a) the Merger Sub will merge with and into TMTG with TMTG surviving the Merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital World, (b) all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of TMTG immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”) (other than those properly exercising any applicable appraisal rights under Delaware law) will automatically be cancelled and shall cease to exist, in exchange for the right to receive pro rata shares of the Merger Consideration (as defined below), (c) each outstanding option to acquire shares of TMTG common stock (whether vested or unvested) will be assumed by Digital World and automatically converted into an option to acquire shares of Digital World common stock, with its price and number of shares equitably adjusted based on the conversion ratio of the shares of TMTG common stock into the Merger Consideration, and (d) each outstanding restricted stock unit of TMTG shall be converted into a restricted stock unit relating to shares of Digital World common stock, Upon completion of the Business Combination, Digital World will change its name from “Digital World Acquisition Corp.” to “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.”.

In connection with the Business Combination, Digital World entered into SPAs with certain third-party investors (the “PIPE Investors”), pursuant to which Digital World agreed to issue and sell to the PIPE Investors, in private placements to close substantially concurrently with the consummation of the Business Combination, an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock (as defined below) at $1,000 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $1 billion.

The Selling Securityholders may sell any, all or none of the securities, and we do not know when or in what amount the Selling Securityholders may sell their securities hereunder following the date of this prospectus. The Selling Securityholders may sell the securities described in this prospectus in a number of different ways and at varying prices. We provide more information about how the Selling Securityholders may sell their securities in the section titled “Plan of Distribution” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the securities by the Selling Securityholders. We will pay the expenses associated with registering the sales by the Selling Securityholders other than any underwriting discounts and commissions, as described in more detail in the section titled “Use of Proceeds” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

Digital World Class A Common Stock is currently listed on The Nasdaq Global Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “DWAC” and the Public Warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “DWACW.” Upon consummation of the Business Combination, the Digital World Class A Common Stock will be redesignated as common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (the “New Digital World common stock”), and the Warrants will become exercisable for New Digital World common stock. Digital World has applied to list the shares of New Digital World common stock and the Warrants of the Combined Entity (as defined herein) on the Nasdaq under the symbols “TMTG” and “TMTGW,” respectively, upon the closing of the Business Combination.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined under the federal securities laws, and, as such, may elect to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for this prospectus and for future filings.

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before buying any securities, you should carefully read the discussion of the risks of investing in our securities in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 20 of this prospectus.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Prospectus dated May     , 2022.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page  

Frequently Used Terms

     1  

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

     6  

Prospectus Summary

     9  

Risk Factors

     20  

Use of Proceeds

     68  

Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information

     69  

Digital World Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

     77  

TMTG’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

     82  

TMTG’s Business

     95  

Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions

     103  

Management

     106  

Executive Compensation

     112  

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management

     119  

Selling Securityholders

     122  

Description of Securities

     129  

Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences

     138  

Plan of Distribution

     144  

Legal Matters

     146  

Experts

     146  

Where You Can Find Additional Information

     146  

Index To Financial Statements

     F-1  

Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders have authorized any person to provide you any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectuses prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders take responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders are making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-1 that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) using the “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, the selling securityholders hereunder may, from time to time, issue, offer and sell, as applicable, any combination of the securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings. The Selling Securityholders may use this prospectus to sell up to an aggregate of 100,000,100 shares of New Digital World common stock from time to time through any means described in the section entitled “Plan of Distribution.” We will not receive any proceeds from the sale by such Selling Securityholders of the securities offered by them described in this prospectus. See the section titled “Use of Proceeds.”

We may also provide a prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to the registration statement to add information to, or update or change information contained in, this prospectus. Before purchasing any securities, you should read both this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to the registration statement together with the additional information to which we refer you in the section of this prospectus titled “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

This prospectus references the trademark and service mark applications of TMTG. Such applications include “TRUTH SOCIAL,” which was filed in the name of Trump Media Group Corp. (TMTG’s former name); and “TMTG” “TMTG+” “POST A TRUTH” “FOLLOW THE TRUTH” “TRUTHING” “RETRUTH” “TRUTHSOCIAL” “TRUTH SOCIAL,” and “TRUTHPLUS,” which were filed in the name of T Media Tech

 

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LLC (TMTG’s wholly owned subsidiary that was acquired in October 2021), if approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and registered with the USPTO will be protected under applicable intellectual property laws and are the property of TMTG or its subsidiaries. There can be no assurance these trademarks will be approved, and the name Truth Social has been challenged by an existing applicant. This prospectus also contains trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Trademarks and service marks are collectively referred to herein as “Trademarks.” Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names.

Information contained in this prospectus concerning the market and the industry in which TMTG competes, including its market position, general expectations of market opportunity and market size, is based on information from various third-party sources, on assumptions made by TMTG based on such sources and TMTG’s knowledge of the markets for its services and solutions. Any estimates provided herein involve numerous assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such information. Third-party sources generally state that the information contained in such source has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable; however, neither TMTG nor Digital World has verified the accuracy or completeness of third-party data. The industry in which TMTG operates is subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk. As a result, the estimates and market and industry information provided in this prospectus are subject to change based on various factors, including those described in the section entitled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to TMTG’s Business ” and elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

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FREQUENTLY USED TERMS

In this document:

Amended Charter” means the second amended and restated certificate of incorporation of Digital World to be approved and entered into in connection with the Business Combination (defined below).

anchor investors” means (i) accounts or funds managed by Radcliffe Capital Management, L.P., (ii) Meteora Capital Partners, LP (an affiliate of Glazer Capital LLC), (iii) Castle Creek Strategies (and sub-funds associated with Castle Creek), (iv) The K2 Principal Fund L.P., (v) Context Partners Master Fund LP, (vi) Boothbay Absolute Return Strategies, LP (or its affiliate Boothbay Diversified Alpha Master Fund LP, commonly controlled by Boothbay Fund Management LLC), (vii) investment funds and accounts managed by Shaolin Capital Management, LLC, (viii) Hudson Bay Master Fund Ltd. and/or its affiliates, (ix) Saba Capital Master Fund, Ltd., Saba Capital Master Fund II, Ltd., Saba Capital Master Fund III, LP and Saba Capital SPAC Opportunities, Ltd., (x) D. E. Shaw Valence Portfolios, L.L.C. and (xi) Yakira Capital Management, Inc. (none of which are affiliated with any member of Digital World management, the Sponsor or any other anchor investor), each of which entered into an investment agreement pursuant to which it expressed an interest to purchase up to 8.3% of the units sold in Digital World IPO.

Board” or “Digital World Board” means the board of directors of Digital World.

Borgers” means BF Borgers, TMTG’s independent registered public accounting firm.

Business Combination” means the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement.

Class A common stock” means the Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Digital World.

Class B common stock” means the Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Digital World.

Closing” means the closing of the Business Combination.

Code” means the Internal Revenue Code, as amended.

Combined Entity” or “New Digital World” means Digital World after giving effect to the Business Combination, and which will include TMTG and any other direct or indirect subsidiaries of Digital World to the extent reasonably applicable.

Common Stock” means any of the Class A common stock and the Class B common stock.

DGCL” means the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended.

Digital World” means Digital World Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation, which will be renamed “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.” in connection with the Closing.

Digital World Charter” or “Charter” means Digital World’s current amended and restated certificate of incorporation as filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on September 2, 2021.

Digital World Class A Common Stock” means the outstanding shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Digital World (“Digital World Class A common stock”), including any shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Digital World (“Digital World Class B common stock”, and together with the Digital World Class A common stock, the “Digital World common stock”) all of which will be converted into Digital World Class A common stock in accordance with Digital World’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Digital World Charter”), will be redesignated as common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (which will be the new name of Digital World after the Closing, as described below, “New Digital World”) (referred to herein as “New Digital World common stock”).

 

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Digital World IPO,” “IPO” or “Initial Public Offering” means Digital World’s initial public offering that was consummated on September 8, 2021.

Digital World IPO Prospectus” means the final prospectus of Digital World, dated as of September 2, 2021, and filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act on September 8, 2021 (File No. 333-256472).

Digital World Special Meeting” means the special meeting of the stockholders of Digital World, to be held virtually at 10:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on      , 2022.

Effective Time” means the effective time of the Merger in accordance with the Merger Agreement.

Equity Incentive Plan” means the Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. Equity Incentive Plan, as such may be amended, supplemented or modified from time to time, which shall be adopted by Digital World and to be approved and entered into in connection with the Business Combination to be effective as of the Closing of the Business Combination.

Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Extension means the right the Company has to extend the Outside Date (defined below) if it obtains an extension of the deadline by which it must complete its business combination.

Extension Units” means any units issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates or designees in connection with additional funds deposited by the Sponsor to the Trust Account to extend the period of time to consummate a Business Combination up to two times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 18 months to complete a Business Combination).

First Amendment to the Agreement” means the First Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 11, 2022, by and among Digital World, Merger Sub, TMTG, the Sponsor in the capacity as the representative of Digital World, and TMTG’s General Counsel in the capacity as the representative of TMTG.

Founder Shares” means Class B common stock initially purchased by the Sponsor on January 20, 2021.

Initial Stockholders” means the Sponsor and any other holders of the Founder Shares prior to the Digital World IPO (or their permitted transferees), if any.

Marcum” means Marcum LLP, Digital World’s independent registered public accounting firm.

Merger” means the merger of Merger Sub with and into TMTG, with TMTG continuing as the surviving corporation and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital World, in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement.

Merger Agreement” means the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated October 20, 2021, as amended by the First Amendment to the Agreement, and as it may further be amended or supplemented from time to time, by and among Digital World, Merger Sub, TMTG, the Sponsor in the capacity as the representative of Digital World, and TMTG’s General Counsel in the capacity as the representative of TMTG.

Merger Consideration means the consideration that the TMTG securityholders (as defined below) shall be entitled to receive from Digital World as of immediately prior to the Effective Time in the form of a number of shares of New Digital World common stock in an amount equal to $875,000,000, subject to adjustments for TMTG’s closing debt, net of cash, and unpaid transaction expenses.

Merger Sub” means DWAC Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital World.

New Digital World common stock” means the common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Digital World (which will be renamed Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.) following the Business Combination; such common stock was previously designated Class A common stock of Digital World, and

 

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New Digital World common stock will include any shares of Class B common stock all of which will be converted into Class A common stock in connection with the Closing pursuant to the Digital World Charter.

Outside Date means the date by which the Merger Agreement can be terminated by either party if any of the closing conditions have not been satisfied or waived by September 20, 2022.

PIPE Investment” means that certain private placement in the aggregate amount of approximately $1,000,000,000, to be consummated concurrently with the TMTG Business Combination, pursuant to those certain securities purchase agreements (the “SPA”) with certain institutional investors (the “PIPE Investors”), pursuant to which the PIPE Investors agreed to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of Digital World’s Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Preferred Stock”) for a purchase price of $1,000 per share (the “PIPE”). The shares were initially convertible into 29,761,905 shares of common stock based on the price at the time of the execution of the SPA, subject to upward adjustment as described herein, subject to a maximum of 100,000,100 shares of common stock.

PIPE Shares” means the shares of New Digital World common stock underlying the Preferred Stock being purchased by the PIPE Investors in the PIPE Investment.

Placement Shares” means the shares of Digital World Class A common stock included within the Placement Units being purchased by the Sponsor in the Private Placement.

Placement Units” means 1,133,484 units issued to the Sponsor in the Private Placement (including the additional units purchased after the Digital World IPO in connection with the over-allotment securities issued to Digital World’s underwriters). Each Placement Unit consists of one Placement Share and one-half of one Placement Warrant.

Placement Warrant” means the warrants included within the Placement Units being purchased by the Sponsor in the Private Placement. Each Placement Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Digital World Class A common stock for $11.50 per share.

Private Placement” means the private placement consummated simultaneously with the Digital World IPO in which Digital World issued to the Sponsor the Placement Units.

Public Shares” means shares of Class A common stock included in the Public Units and shares of Class A common stock underlying the Public Warrants.

Public Warrants” means warrants underlying the Units issued in the Digital World IPO. Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share.

Public Units” means units issued in the Digital World IPO, including any over-allotment securities acquired by Digital World’s underwriters, consisting of one Public Share and one-half of one Public Warrant.

Redemption” means the right of the holders of Class A common stock to have their shares redeemed in accordance with the procedures set forth in this prospectus and the Digital World Charter.

SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Selling securityholders” means the securityholders (or their permitted transferees) who are registering the resale of their securities in the Combined Entity under this registration statement.

Sponsor” means ARC Global Investments II LLC.

TMTG” means Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., a Delaware corporation, and includes the surviving corporation after the Merger. References herein to TMTG will include its subsidiaries to the extent reasonably applicable.

 

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TMTG 2022 Plan” means the Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. 2022 Equity Incentive Plan, adopted by TMTG following the date of Merger Agreement and prior to the Closing of the Business Combination.

TMTG Board” means the board of directors of TMTG.

TMTG common stock” means shares of common stock, par value $0.000001 per share, of TMTG.

TMTG Convertible Securities” means, collectively, any TMTG Options, TMTG RSUs, warrants or rights to subscribe for or purchase any capital stock of the TMTG or securities convertible into or exchangeable for, or that otherwise confer on the holder any right to acquire any capital stock of the TMTG.

TMTG Options” means, collectively, all outstanding options to purchase shares of TMTG common stock, whether or not exercisable and whether or not vested, immediately prior to the Effective Time under the TMTG 2022 Plan or otherwise.

TMTG RSUs” all outstanding restricted stock units with respect to shares of TMTG common stock, whether or not vested, immediately prior to the Effective Time under the TMTG 2022 Plan or otherwise.

TMTG securityholders” refers to holders of capital stock, options and other convertible securities of TMTG as of the time immediately before the Effective Time.

TMTG securities” means any of the TMTG common stock and any TMTG Convertible Securities.

TMTG stockholders” refers to holders of capital stock of TMTG as of the time immediately before the Effective Time.

Trust Account” means the trust account of Digital World, which holds the net proceeds of the Digital World IPO, including from over-allotment securities sold by Digital World’s underwriters, and the sale of the Placement Units, together with interest earned thereon, less amounts released to pay tax obligations and up to $100,000 for dissolution expenses, and amounts paid pursuant to redemptions.

U.S. GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles in the United States.

Units” means any of the Public Units, Placement Units, the Working Capital Units (if any), and the Extension Units (if any).

Warrants” means any of the Public Warrants, the Placement Warrants and the warrants underlying the Working Capital Units (if any) and Extension Units (if any), excluding any warrants of TMTG.

Working Capital Units” means any units issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates or Digital World’s officers or directors in connection with any loans made by them to Digital World prior to the closing of Digital World’s initial business combination in accordance with the Digital World IPO Prospectus. As described in the Digital World IPO Prospectus, initially up to $1,500,000 of such loans could have been converted at the election of the applicable lender into units at a price of $10.00 per unit, which units would be identical to the Placement Units. The amount of such loans that can be converted to Working Capital Units has subsequently been increased to $30,000,000, provided that additional Working Capital Units beyond the Working Capital Units underlying the initial $1,500,000 in working capital loans as described in the Digital World’s IPO prospectus will only be issuable upon the approval of Digital Word’s stockholders.

Share Calculations and Ownership Percentages

Unless otherwise specified (including in the sections entitled “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information”, “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” and “Selling Securityholders”), the share calculations and ownership percentages set forth in this prospectus with respect to the holders of capital stock of the Combined Entity following the Business Combination are for illustrative purposes only and assume the following:

(a) (1) none of the holders of Public Shares exercises their redemption rights, (2) there is no exercise at the Closing of the Public Warrants at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, which warrants are not exercisable

 

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until the later of 12 months from the closing of the Digital World IPO and thirty (30) days after the first date on which the Company completes the Business Combination, (3) none of the parties set forth below purchase shares of Digital World Class A common stock in the open market, (4) there are no other issuances of equity interests of the Company prior to or in connection with the closing of the Business Combination, and (5) no awards are issued under the new equity incentive plan to be adopted by Digital World in connection with the Business Combination (“Scenario A”) and alternatively that

(b) (1) the maximum number of the holders of the Public Shares exercise their redemption rights (representing redemption of shares of 30,027,234 Class A common stock, for aggregate payment of approximately $306.3 million from the Trust Account (based on an assumed redemption price of approximately $10.20 per share)), (2) there is no exercise at the closing of the Business Combination of the Public Warrants at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, which warrants are not exercisable until the later of 12 months from the closing of the Digital World IPO and thirty (30) days after the first date on which the Company completes the Business Combination, (3) none of the parties set forth below purchase shares of Digital World Class A common stock in the open market, (4) there are no other issuances of equity interests of the Company prior to or in connection with the closing of the Business Combination, and (5) no awards are issued under the new equity incentive plan to be adopted by Digital World in connection with the Business Combination (“Scenario B”).

 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus (including the documents incorporated by reference herein) contains forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, the plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial, of Digital World and TMTG. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the management of Digital World and TMTG. Although Digital World and TMTG believe that their respective plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, neither Digital World nor TMTG can assure you that either will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” or similar expressions, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Neither Borgers, TMTG’s independent auditor, nor Marcum, Digital World’s independent auditor, has examined, compiled or otherwise applied procedures with respect to the accompanying forward-looking financial information presented herein and, accordingly, expresses no opinion or any other form of assurance on it. The report of Borgers included in this prospectus relates to historical financial information of TMTG, and the report of Marcum included in this prospectus relates to historical financial information of Digital World. Neither report extends to the forward-looking information and should not be read as if it does. Forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus include, but are not limited to, statements about:

 

   

the ability of Digital World and TMTG prior to the Business Combination to meet the Closing conditions to the Business Combination;

 

   

the ability of the Combined Entity following the Business Combination, to realize the benefits from the Business Combination;

 

   

the ability of Digital World to complete the Business Combination;

 

   

the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement;

 

   

the ability of Digital World and TMTG prior to the Business Combination, and the Combined Entity following the Business Combination, to obtain and/or maintain the listing of New Digital World common stock on Nasdaq following the Business Combination;

 

   

future financial performance following the Business Combination;

 

   

public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

   

the use of proceeds not held in the Trust Account or available to Digital World from interest income on the Trust Account balance;

 

   

the impact from the outcome of any known and unknown litigation;

 

   

the ability of the Combined Entity to forecast and maintain an adequate rate of revenue growth and appropriately plan its expenses;

 

   

expectations regarding future expenditures of the Combined Entity following the Business Combination;

 

   

the future mix of revenue and effect on gross margins of the Combined Entity following the Business Combination;

 

   

the attraction and retention of qualified directors, officers, employees and key personnel of Digital World and TMTG prior to the Business Combination, and the Combined Entity following the Business Combination;

 

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the ability of the Combined Entity to compete effectively in a competitive industry;

 

   

the ability to protect and enhance TMTG’s corporate reputation and brand;

 

   

expectations concerning the relationships and actions of TMTG and its affiliates with third parties;

 

   

the impact from future regulatory, judicial, and legislative changes in TMTG’s or the Combined Entity’s industry;

 

   

the ability to locate and acquire complementary products or product candidates and integrate those into TMTG’s or the Combined Entity’s business;

 

   

future arrangements with, or investments in, other entities or associations;

 

   

intense competition and competitive pressures from other companies in the industries in which the Combined Entity will operate; and

 

   

other factors detailed under the section entitled “Risk Factors.”

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this prospectus, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

In addition, statements that Digital World or TMTG “believes” and similar statements reflect such party’s beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to such party as of the date of this prospectus, and while such party believes such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and these statements should not be read to indicate that either Digital World or TMTG has conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, the actual results or performance of Digital World, TMTG and/or the Combined Entity may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause Digital World’s, TMTG’s or the Combined Entity’s actual results to differ include:

 

   

the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement;

 

   

the outcome of any legal or regulatory proceedings that have been, or may be, instituted in the future against Digital World, TMTG, the Combined Entity or others following announcement of the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated therein or following consummation of the Business Combination;

 

   

the inability to complete the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement due to the failure to obtain approval of the stockholders of Digital World or TMTG or other conditions to closing in the Merger Agreement;

 

   

the risk that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the Business Combination;

 

   

the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, the ability of the Combined Entity to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers, compete within its industry and retain its key employees;

 

   

costs related to the proposed Business Combination;

 

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the possibility that the Combined Entity may be adversely impacted by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors;

 

   

risks related to the global COVID-19 pandemic and other macroeconomic or geopolitical developments;

 

   

future exchange and interest rates;

 

   

the risk that the Combined Entity fails to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting, the Combined Entity’s ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired; and

 

   

other risks and uncertainties indicated in this prospectus, including those under “Risk Factors” herein, and other filings that have been made or will be made with the SEC by Digital World or the Combined Entity.

These and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements in this prospectus are more fully described under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. The risks described under the heading “Risk Factors” are not exhaustive. Other sections of this prospectus describe additional factors that could adversely affect the business, financial condition or results of operations of Digital World and TMTG prior to the Business Combination, and the Combined Entity following the Business Combination. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible to predict all such risk factors, nor can Digital World or TMTG assess the impact of all such risk factors on the business of Digital World and TMTG prior to the Business Combination, and the Combined Entity following the Business Combination, or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. This is particularly true for a company like TMTG that has a limited operating history to reference. All forward-looking statements attributable to Digital World or TMTG or persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.

 

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PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

The following summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. It does not contain all the information you should consider before investing in the New Digital World common stock or Warrants. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the sections titled “Risk Factors,” “Business,” “TMTG’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Digital World’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Where You Can Find Additional Information,” “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information,” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before making an investment decision.

Digital World

Digital World is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Digital World was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on December 11, 2020.

Digital World Class A Common Stock, Warrants and Digital World Units (each Digital World Unit comprised of one share of Digital World Class A Common Stock and one-half of one Warrant) are currently listed and trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbols “DWAC,” “DWACW” and “DWACU,” respectively. We have applied to continue the listing of the New Digital World common stock and Warrants on Nasdaq under the symbols “TMTG” and “TMTGW,” respectively, upon Closing. The Digital World Units will automatically separate into their component securities (one share of Digital World Class A Common Stock and one-half of one Warrant) upon the Closing and, as a result, will no longer exist. Upon the Closing, Digital World intends to change its name from “Digital World Acquisition Corp.” to “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.”.

The mailing address of Digital World’s principal executive offices is 78 SW 7th Street, Miami, Florida 33130, and its telephone number at such address is (305) 735-1517.

TMTG

TMTG, a Delaware corporation, aspires to create a media and technology powerhouse to rival the liberal media consortium and promote free expression on all issues.

TMTG was founded to fight back against the Big Tech companies—Meta (Facebook), Twitter, Netflix, Alphabet (Google), Amazon and others—that collude to limit debate in America and silence voices that contradict their woke ideology. Twitter currently suppresses conservative speech through various means including “shadow banning”—a surreptitious process in which users may not even know their posts are being hidden from other users. The company also outright bans conservative users such as TMTG’s Chairman, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump—even while it continues to allow the Taliban to freely post their views to the world.

Big Tech’s transformation into the arbiters of public speech is contrary to American values. Their censorship of dissident expression constitutes the most serious threat today to a free and democratic debate. Thus, TMTG aims to safeguard public debate and open dialogue, and to provide a platform for all users to freely express themselves.

TMTG’s first product, TruthSocial, is a social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without censoring or cancelling users due to their political viewpoints. It is a public, real-time platform where any user can create content and follow other users. TMTG does not impose restrictions on whom a user can follow, which greatly enhances the breadth and depth of available content. Additionally, users can be followed by other users without requiring a reciprocal relationship, enhancing the ability of TMTG users to reach a broad audience.

 

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TruthSocial was generally made available in the first quarter of 2022. The company prides itself on building its platform, to the best of its ability, without relying on hostile Big Tech companies. Working with alternative technology firms that share its commitment to free speech, TMTG fully launched TruthSocial for iOS on April 21, 2022, made the platform available on other desktop and mobile devices on May 18, 2022.

TMTG was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on February 8, 2021.

The mailing address of TMTG’s principal executive offices is 401 N. Cattlemen Rd., Ste. 200, Sarasota, Florida 34232, and its telephone number at such address is (800) 798-5754.

The Business Combination and the Merger Agreement

On October 20, 2021 (as amended by the First Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 11, 2022, and as it may be further amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Merger Agreement”), by and among Digital World, Merger Sub, TMTG, and ARC Global Investments II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, the parties entered into the Merger Agreement whereby, if adopted, (a) the Merger Sub will merge with and into TMTG with TMTG surviving the Merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital World, (b) all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of TMTG immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”) (other than those properly exercising any applicable appraisal rights under Delaware law) will automatically be cancelled and shall cease to exist, in exchange for the right to receive pro rata shares of the Merger Consideration (as defined below), (c) each outstanding option to acquire shares of TMTG common stock (whether vested or unvested) will be assumed by Digital World and automatically converted into an option to acquire shares of Digital World common stock, with its price and number of shares equitably adjusted based on the conversion ratio of the shares of TMTG common stock into the Merger Consideration, and (d) each outstanding restricted stock unit of TMTG shall be converted into a restricted stock unit relating to shares of Digital World common stock, Upon completion of the Business Combination, Digital World will change its name from “Digital World Acquisition Corp.” to “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.”.

Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, at the Effective Time:

 

  (a)

the outstanding shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Digital World (“Digital World Class A common stock”), including any shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Digital World (“Digital World Class B common stock”, and together with the Digital World Class A common stock, the “Digital World common stock”) all of which will be converted into Digital World Class A common stock in accordance with Digital World’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Digital World Charter”), will be redesignated as common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (which will be the new name of Digital World after the Closing, as described below, “New Digital World”) (referred to herein as “New Digital World common stock”);

 

  (b)

As consideration for the Merger, the TMTG securityholders as of immediately prior to the Effective Time (“TMTG securityholders”), shall be entitled to receive from Digital World, a number of shares of New Digital World common stock in an amount equal to $875,000,000, subject to adjustments for TMTG’s closing debt, net of cash, and unpaid transaction expenses (the “Merger Consideration”), plus the additional contingent right to receive the Earnout Shares (as defined below) after the Closing, provided that it shall exclude any additional shares issuable upon conversion after the Closing of certain TMTG convertible notes, as described below, and upon the Merger (i) all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of TMTG immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than those properly exercising any applicable appraisal rights under Delaware law) will automatically be cancelled and shall cease to exist, in exchange for the right to receive pro rata shares of the aggregate Merger Consideration to be paid to the TMTG stockholders as of immediately prior to the Effective Time,

 

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  (ii) each outstanding option to acquire shares of TMTG common stock (whether vested or unvested) will be assumed by Digital World and automatically converted into an option to acquire shares of New Digital World common stock, with its price and number of shares equitably adjusted based on the conversion ratio of the shares of TMTG common stock into the Merger Consideration, and (iii) each outstanding restricted stock unit of TMTG shall be converted into a restricted stock unit relating to shares of New Digital World common stock, as provided in the Merger Agreement and as more particularly described in the notice; and

 

  (c)

the TMTG stockholders will also have a contingent right to receive up to an aggregate of an additional 40,000,000 shares of New Digital World common stock (the “Earnout Shares”) after the Closing based on the price performance of the New Digital World common stock during the three (3) year period following the Closing (the “Earnout Period”). The Earnout Shares shall be earned and payable during the Earnout Period as follows:

 

   

if the dollar volume-weighted average price (“VWAP”) of New Digital World common stock equals or exceeds $15.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period, Digital World shall issue to the TMTG stockholders an additional 15,000,000 Earnout Shares;

 

   

if the VWAP of New Digital World common stock equals or exceeds $20.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period, Digital World shall issue to the TMTG stockholders an additional 15,000,000 Earnout Shares; and

 

   

if the VWAP of New Digital World common stock equals or exceeds $30.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period, Digital World shall issue to the TMTG stockholders an additional 10,000,000 Earnout Shares.

The Merger Consideration will be subject to a post-Closing true up 90 days after the Closing.

Securities Purchase Agreements

In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, Digital World entered into securities purchase agreements (the “SPAs”) with certain institutional accredited investors (the “PIPE Investors”), pursuant to which the investors agreed to purchase an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of Digital World’s Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Preferred Stock”), for a purchase price of $1,000 per share of Preferred Stock, for an aggregate commitment of $1,000,000,000 in a private placement (the “PIPE”) to be consummated concurrently with the TMTG Business Combination (the “Closing”). The shares of Preferred Stock have an initial conversion price per share of $33.60 and are initially convertible into an aggregate of 29,761,905 shares of common stock, subject to adjustment. The closing of the PIPE is conditioned on the concurrent closing of the TMTG Business Combination and other closing conditions as set forth in the SPAs. The fully committed convertible preferred stock PIPE transaction is priced at $33.60, which represents a 20% discount to Digital World’s volume weighted average closing price (“VWAP”) for the five days preceding the execution of the SPA. The price is subject to further downward adjustment to a 40% discount to Digital World’s VWAP for the ten trading days following the day of the Business Combination, with a floor price of $10.00. The PIPE financing is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close immediately prior to the business combination.

The closing of the sale of the PIPE Shares pursuant to the SPA is contingent upon, among other customary closing conditions, the concurrent consummation of the Business Combination. If the conditions precedent to closing of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are not fulfilled or waived and the Business Combination does not close, then the PIPE Shares will not be issued. In this event, the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part will be withdrawn by Digital World prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement.

 

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Risk Factors Summary

This discussion includes forward-looking information regarding our business, results of operations and cash flows and contractual obligations and arrangements that involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those discussed in the sections of this prospectus entitled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Digital World and the Business Combination

The Combined Entity’s business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section titled “Risk Factors” immediately following this prospectus summary. The following is a summary of the principal risks faced by the Combined Entity:

 

   

The Combined Entity’s ability to be successful following the Business Combination will depend upon the efforts of the Combined Entity’s board of directors and key personnel and the loss of such persons could negatively impact the operations and profitability of New Digital World’s business.

 

   

Delaware law and New Digital World’s Amended Charter and bylaws contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions, that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.

 

   

The Amended Charter designates a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between New Digital World and its stockholders, and also provide that the federal district courts will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, each of which could limit the ability of New Digital World’s stockholders to choose the judicial forum for disputes.

 

   

TruthSocial is the only product TMTG is currently commercializing, and TMTG depends almost entirely on TruthSocial for its success.

 

   

TMTG has limited experience as a commercial company and the launch of TruthSocial may be less successful than anticipated.

 

   

The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to continue to have, an adverse impact on our business, including our financial results and prospects.

 

   

TMTG’s market for TruthSocial is subject to intense competition.

 

   

Nasdaq may delist New Digital World’s securities from its exchange.

 

   

The market price of New Digital World’s common stock may decline as a result of the Business Combination.

 

   

There are no current plans to pay cash dividends on the New Digital World common stock for the foreseeable future.

 

   

New Digital World stockholders may experience dilution in the future.

 

   

Future sales, or perceived future sales, by New Digital World or its stockholders in the public market following the Business Combination could cause the market price for New Digital World common stock to decline.

 

   

If Digital World public stockholders fail to comply with the redemption requirements specified in this prospectus, they will not be entitled to redeem their public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the Trust Account.

 

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Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company

Digital World is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in Digital World’s periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. Digital World has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies. Digital World, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make it difficult or impossible to compare Digital World’s financial results with the financial results of another public company that is either not an emerging growth company or is an emerging growth company that has chosen not to take advantage of the extended transition period exemptions because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

The Combined Entity will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the closing of Digital World’s initial public offering, (b) in which Digital World has total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion or (c) in which the Combined Entity is deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which, in addition to certain other criteria, means the market value of Digital World’s common equity that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter and (2) the date on which the Combined Entity has issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

 

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THE OFFERING

 

Issuer

Digital World Acquisition Corp.

 

  In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, Digital World will change its name to Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. If the Business Combination is not consummated, the Preferred Stock and the underlying PIPE Shares will not be issued and the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part will be withdrawn. No sales or issuances of securities will be made under this prospectus until after the Closing.

Resale of New Digital World Common Stock

 

New Digital World Common Stock offered by the Selling Securityholders

Up to 100,000,100 PIPE Shares underlying the Preferred Stock to be issued in the PIPE Investment).

 

Combined Entity Common Stock outstanding after the consummation of this offering and the Business Combination (assuming no redemptions)(1)

158,213,527 shares

 

Combined Entity Common Stock outstanding after the consummation of this offering and the Business Combination (assuming maximum redemptions)(2)

129,463,527 shares

 

Use of Proceeds

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the New Digital World common stock offered by the Selling Securityholders under this prospectus. See the section titled “Use of Proceeds” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus for more information.

 

Risk Factors

See the section titled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 20 of this prospectus and other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors that you should consider carefully before deciding to invest in the New Digital World common stock.

 

 

(1) 

Assumes 29,761,905 PIPE Shares are issued, no shares of Digital World Class A Common Stock are redeemed and no Warrants are exercised. If the actual facts are different than these assumptions the number of shares of New Digital World common stock outstanding at Closing will be different.

(2) 

Assumes 29,761,905 PIPE Shares are issued, that 28,750,000 shares of Digital World Class A Common Stock are redeemed and no Warrants are exercised. If the actual facts are different than these assumptions, the number of shares of New Digital World common stock outstanding at Closing will be different.

 

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Market for Common Stock

Digital World Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants are currently listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “DWAC” and “DWACW”, respectively. Following the closing of the Business Combination, we expect that New Digital World common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “TMTG” and “TMTGW”, respectively.

 

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF TMTG

The summary statement of operations data for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the summary balance sheet data as of December 31, 2021 are derived from TMTG’s audited financial statements, each of which is included elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary statement of operations data for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and the summary balance sheet data as of March 31, 2022 are derived from TMTG’s unaudited financial statements, each of which is included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period. You should carefully read the following selected financial information in conjunction with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of TMTG” and TMTG’s financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

Statement of Operations Data:

 

     Three Months Ended
March 31,
    Period Ended
December 31,
 

in thousands, except share and per share data

   2022     2021  

Net Sales – related party

   $ 0     $ 2,123.3  

Cost of revenue

     0       —    

Gross profit

     0       2,123.3  

Operating costs and expenses:

    

Research and development

     4,341.4       2,571.3  

Sales and marketing

     126.8       381.7  

General and administrative

     3,322.7       3,425.8  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (7,790.9     (4,255.5

Interest expense

     (363.8     (654.3

Change in fair value of derivative liabilities

     (40,033.2     (54,186.4
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations before income taxes

     (48,187.9     (59,096.2

Income tax benefit

     0       —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (48,187.9   $ (59,096.2
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted-average common shares used in net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

     100,000,000       100,000,000  

Net loss per common share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

     (0.48     (0.59
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Statement of Balance Sheet Data:

 

in thousands

   As of March 31,
2022
    As of December 31,
2021
 

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 26,554.4     $ 18,734.4  

Total assets

     27,203.7       19,251.2  

Total liabilities

     134,487.8       78,347.4  

Working capital(1)

     25,825.0       18,282.1  

Accumulated deficit

     (107,284.1     (59,096.2

Total stockholders’ deficit

   $ (107,284.1   $ (59,096.2

 

(1)

Working capital is defined as total current assets minus total current liabilities

 

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SELECTED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF DIGITAL WORLD

The summary statements of operations data for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and the summary balance sheet data as of March 31, 2022 are derived from Digital World’s interim unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary statements of operations data for three months ended March 31, 2022 and the year ended December 31, 2021 and the summary balance sheet data as of December 31, 2021 are derived from Digital World’s audited financial statements, each of which is included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period. You should carefully read the following selected financial information in conjunction with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Digital World” and Digital World’s financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

Statements of Operations Data:

 

     Three Months Ended
March 31, 2022
     Year Ended
December 31, 2021
 

Formation and operating costs

   $ 1,863,920      $ 1,191,593  

Franchise tax expense

     50,000        200,000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Loss from operation costs

     (1,913,920      (1,391,593

Other income and expenses:

     

Interest earned on cash held in Trust Account

     29,531        7,098  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (1,884,389    $ (1,384,495
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A common stock

     30,027,234        9,404,134  

Basic and diluted net income per Class A common stock

   $ (0.05    $ (0.08
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B common stock

     7,187,500        7,187,500  

Basic and diluted net income per Class B common stock

   $ (0.05    $ (0.08
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Statements of Balance Sheet Data:

 

     As of
March 31,
2022
     As of
December 31,
2021
 

Balance Sheet Data:

     

Total assets

   $ 293,674,726      $ 293,990,852  

Total liabilities

   $ 12,314,298      $ 10,746,035  

Class A common stock subject to possible redemption

     293,250,000      $ 293,250,000  

Working capital (deficit)(1)

   $ (1,969,334    $ (114,832

Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity

     (11,889,572    $ (10,005,183

 

(1)

Working capital (deficit) is defined as total current assets minus total current liabilities

 

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SUMMARY UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Defined terms included below shall have the same meaning as terms defined and included elsewhere in this this prospectus.

The following summary unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial data, (the “summary pro forma data”) gives effect to the Business Combination described in the section entitled “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information.” The Business Combination is expected to be accounted for as a reverse recapitalization, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded, in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under this method of accounting, Digital World will be treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. The net assets of Digital World will be stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded.

The summary unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet data as of March 31, 2022 gives pro forma effect to the Business Combination and related transactions as if they had occurred on March 31, 2022. The summary unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations data for the year ended December 31, 2021 give pro forma effect to the Business Combination and related transactions as if they had occurred on January 1, 2021. The summary unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations data for the three months ended March 31, 2022 give pro forma effect to the Business Combination and related transactions as if they had occurred on January 1, 2021.

The summary pro forma data have been derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information of the Combined Entity appearing elsewhere in this prospectus and the accompanying notes. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information is based upon, and should be read in conjunction with, the historical consolidated financial statements of Digital World and related notes and the historical financial statements of TMTG and related notes, in each case, included in this prospectus. The summary pro forma data have been presented for informational purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of what the Combined Entity’s financial position or results of operations actually would have been had the Business Combination and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (described elsewhere in this prospectus) been completed as of the dates indicated. In addition, the summary pro forma data do not purport to project the future financial position or operating results of the Combined Entity.

For illustrative purposes, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared assuming two alternative levels of additional redemptions of Digital World Class A common stock:

 

   

Assuming Minimum Additional Redemptions (“Minimum Redemption”) —this scenario assumes that no shares of Digital World Class A common stock are redeemed; and

 

   

Assuming Maximum Redemptions (“Maximum Redemption”) — This scenario assumes additional redemption of 28.8 million shares of Digital World Class A common stock, for aggregate payment of approximately $274.7 million from the Trust Account), so that Digital World retains at least $5,000,001 in net tangible assets immediately prior to or upon the consummation of the Business Combination (after giving effect to payments of all unpaid expenses, Digital World’s liabilities and redemptions by Digital World’s public stockholders and excluding TMTG’s closing cash and the proceeds of the private placement).

 

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Assuming Minimum Redemption, on a pro forma estimated basis, TMTG’s existing securityholders will hold 90,492,840 shares of Class A common stock of the Combined Entity immediately after the Closing, which approximates a 57.2% ownership level. Assuming Maximum Redemption, on a pro forma estimated basis, TMTG will hold common stock of the Combined Entity approximating an 69.9% ownership level.

 

     Assuming No Redemption      Assuming Max Redemption  

Stockholder

   % Ownership     Shares      % Ownership     Shares  

TMTG(a)(b)

     57.2     90,492,840        69.9     90,492,840  

Public

     19.0     30,027,234        1.0     1,277,234  

PIPE Investors

     18.8     29,761,905        23.0     29,761,905  

Sponsor (including % of Digital World’s directors and officers)

     5.0     7,931,548        6.1     7,931,548  
  

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     100     158,213,527        100     129,463,527  
  

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(a)

Refer to Note 1 Share consideration to TMTG for the calculation of shares issued to TMTG at Closing.

(b)

Includes 4,708,526 shares issued for TMTG convertible promissory notes.

The foregoing ownership percentages with respect to the Combined Entity following the Business Combination are based on the assumption that there are no adjustments for the outstanding Public Warrants or Placement Warrants issued by Digital World and assume that: (i) there are either no redemptions or the maximum redemptions, (ii) no awards are issued under the Equity Incentive Plan, (iii) no Working Capital Units or Extension Units are issued and no shares of Preferred Stock are converted. If the actual facts are different than these assumptions (which they are likely to be), the percentage ownership retained by the Digital World’s existing stockholders in the Combined Entity will be different. Upon consummation of the Business Combination, and subject to approval of the Equity Incentive Plan to be approved and adopted in connection with the Business Combination, TMTG’s executive officers are expected to receive grants of stock options and restricted stock units under the Equity Incentive Plan from time to time as determined by the Compensation Committee. In addition, the outstanding TMTG Options and TMTG RSUs granted to TMTG’s executive officers and certain members of the TMTG Board under the TMTG 2022 Plan prior to the Closing of the Business Combination will be assumed and converted to options and TMTG RSUs under the Equity Incentive Plan effective as of the Closing the Business Combination.

If the actual facts are different than these assumptions, then the amounts and shares outstanding in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information will be different.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before making an investment decision, you should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below. Our business, operating results, financial condition or prospects could also be harmed by risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material. If any of the events described below occur, the Combined Entity’s post-Business Combination business and financial results could be adversely affected in material respects. This could result in a decline, which may be significant, in the trading price of the Combined Entity’s securities and you therefore may lose all or part of your investment. The risk factors described below are not necessarily exhaustive and you are encouraged to perform your own investigation with respect to the businesses of Digital World and TMTG. Any reference in this “Risk Factors” section to the “surviving entity” shall mean New Digital World.

Risks Related to the Business Combination

The unaudited pro forma financial information included in the section entitled “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements may not be representative of New Digital Worlds financial condition or results of operations following the Business Combination and accordingly, you will have limited financial information on which to evaluate the financial performance of New Digital World and your investment decision.

Prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, Digital World and TMTG operated as separate companies. Digital World and TMTG have had no prior history as a combined entity and their respective operations have not previously been managed on a combined basis. The pro forma financial information is presented for informational purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the financial position or results of operations that would have actually occurred had the Business Combination been completed at or as of the dates indicated, nor is it indicative of the future operating results or financial position of New Digital World. The pro forma statement of earnings does not reflect future nonrecurring charges resulting from the Business Combination. The unaudited pro forma financial information does not reflect future events that may occur after the Business Combination and does not consider potential impacts of current market conditions on revenues or expenses. The pro forma financial information included in the section entitled “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements” has been derived from Digital World’s and TMTG’s historical financial statements and certain adjustments and assumptions have been made regarding the combined entity after giving effect to the Merger. Differences between preliminary estimates in the pro forma financial information and the final acquisition accounting will occur and could have an adverse impact on the pro forma financial information and New Digital World’s financial position and future results of operations.

In addition, the assumptions used in preparing the pro forma financial information may not prove to be accurate and other factors may affect New Digital World’s financial condition or results of operations following the Closing. Any potential decline in New Digital World’s financial condition or results of operations may cause significant variations in the stock price of New Digital World.

Failure by New Digital World to timely file and to obtain and maintain effectiveness of any registration statement required to be filed under the Registration Rights Agreement will result in New Digital World paying to each PIPE Investor an amount in cash, as liquidated damages, which will adversely affect the operation of the New Digital World. In addition, New Digital World could have to file multiple registration statements to register all of the shares of common stock, which could give rise to conversions at lower pricese.

The PIPE Investors were also given registration rights in a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) pursuant to which, subject to certain exceptions, Digital World will be required to file a resale registration statement for all of the shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the Preferred Stock held by the PIPE Investors and shall be declared effective no later than the Closing of the Business Combination (the “Initial Registration Statement”). Thereafter, New Digital World will be required to register

 

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and to maintain the registration for all shares underlying the Preferred Stock until the Effective Date. Failure by New Digital World to timely file and to obtain and maintain effectiveness of any registration statement required to be filed under the Registration Rights Agreement will result in New Digital World paying to each PIPE Investor an amount in cash, as liquidated damages and not as a penalty, equal to (A) with respect to the first two months, 2% of the subscription price paid by each PIPE Investor for any unregistered registrable securities, plus (B) with respect to the third month and beyond, 6% of the subscription price paid by each PIPE Investor for any unregistered registrable securities. In no case will the maximum aggregate liquidated damages payable to a PIPE Investor exceed 20% of the subscription price paid by such PIPE Investor. If New Digital World fails to pay any liquidated damages in full within seven days after the date payable, New Digital World will pay interest thereon at a rate of 18% per annum (or such lesser maximum amount that is permitted to be paid by applicable law) to the PIPE Investor, until such amounts, plus all such interest thereon, are paid in full, subject to the aggregate limitation. In addition, if the Initial Registration Statement is not declared effective for all of the shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the Preferred Stock, the conversion price is subject to downward adjustment, which could result in New Digital World having to issue up 100,000,100 shares of common stock to the PIPE Investors.

Digital World’s independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a “going concern.”

On December 31, 2021, Digital World had cash of $293,257,098 held in the Trust Account and $327,731 outside of the Trust Account. On March 31, 2022, Digital World had cash of $293,286,629 held in the Trust Account and $41,492 outside of the Trust Account. Further, Digital World incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Digital World.” Digital World cannot assure you that its plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about Digital World’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from its inability to continue as a going concern.

The Combined Entity’s ability to be successful following the Business Combination will depend upon the efforts of the Combined Entity’s board of directors and key personnel and the loss of such persons could negatively impact the operations and profitability of New Digital World’s post-Business Combination business.

The Combined Entity’s ability to be successful following the Business Combination will be dependent upon the efforts of the Combined Entity’s board of directors and key personnel. Digital World cannot assure you that New Digital World’s board of directors and key personnel will be effective or successful or remain with the Combined Entity. In addition to the other challenges they will face, such individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a public company, which could cause the Combined Entity’s management to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.

The process of taking a company public by means of a business combination with a special purpose acquisition company (a “SPAC”) is different from taking a company public through an underwritten offering.

Like other business combination transactions and spin-offs, in connection with the Business Combination, there was no underwriter to undertake the diligence performed by the underwriters in an underwritten public offering. An underwritten offering involves a company engaging underwriters to purchase its shares and resell them to the public. An underwritten offering imposes statutory liability on the underwriters for material misstatements or omissions contained in the registration statement unless they are able to sustain the burden of providing that they did not know and could not reasonably have discovered such material misstatements or omissions. This is referred to as a “due diligence” defense. Due diligence entails engaging legal, financial and/or other experts to perform an investigation as to the accuracy of an issuer’s disclosure regarding, among other

 

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things, its business and financial results. Auditors of the issuer also will deliver a “comfort” letter with respect to the financial information contained in the registration statement. In making their investment decision, investors in underwritten public offerings have the benefit of such diligence. Investors in an underwritten public offering may benefit from the role of the underwriters in such an offering. Going public via a business combination with a SPAC does not involve any underwriters and does not generally necessitate the level of review required to establish a “due diligence” defense as would be customary on an underwritten offering.

In an underwritten public offering, an issuer initially sells its securities to the public market via one or more underwriters, who distribute or resell such securities to the public. Underwriters have liability under the U.S. securities laws for material misstatements or omissions in a registration statement pursuant to which an issuer sells securities.

In contrast, Digital World and TMTG have engaged a financial advisor (rather than underwriters) in connection with the Business Combination. The role of a financial advisor typically differs from that of an underwriter. For example, financial advisors do not act as intermediaries in the public sale of securities and therefore do not face the same potential liability under the U.S. securities laws as underwriters. As a result, financial advisors typically do not undertake the same level of, or any, due diligence investigation of the issuer as is typically undertaken by underwriters.

In connection with this prospectus, no parties other than Digital World and TMTG have conducted an investigation of the disclosure contained herein. In addition, as an unaffiliated investor, you will not be afforded the opportunity to perform your own due diligence investigation of, or otherwise obtain information on, Digital World or TMTG beyond the information that is contained in this prospectus (or is otherwise publicly available). You therefore may not have the benefit of the same level of review as an investor in an underwritten public offering, who has the benefit of the underwriters’ evaluation and due diligence investigation of the issuer.

Digital World was in the past, and continues to be, subject to inquiries, exams, pending investigations, or enforcement matters.

Digital World is subject to regulation under federal, state, and applicable international laws. Digital World may be threatened with or named as a defendant in lawsuits, arbitrations and administrative claims involving securities and other matters. Digital World is also subject to periodic regulatory examinations and inspections. Compliance and trading problems or other deficiencies or weaknesses that are reported to regulators, such as the SEC, FINRA or state regulators, or that are identified by regulators themselves, are investigated by such regulators, and may, if pursued, result in formal claims being filed against Digital World by customers or disciplinary action being taken against us by regulators or enforcement agencies.

To resolve issues raised in examinations or other governmental actions, Digital World may be required to take various corrective actions, including changing certain business practices, making refunds or taking other actions that could be financially or competitively detrimental to Digital World. Digital World expects to continue to incur costs to comply with governmental regulations. Any such claims or disciplinary actions that are decided against Digital World could have a material impact on its financial results.

Digital World is cooperating with a FINRA inquiry concerning events (specifically, a review of trading) that preceded the public announcement of the Merger Agreement. According to FINRA’s request, the inquiry should not be construed as an indication that FINRA has determined that any violations of Nasdaq rules or federal securities laws have occurred, nor as a reflection upon the merits of the securities involved or upon any person who effected transactions in such securities.

Digital World is also cooperating with an SEC investigation, including responding to a document request and subpoena from the SEC seeking various documents and information regarding, among other things, meetings of Digital World Board; communications with and the evaluation of potential targets, including TMTG;

 

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communications relating to TMTG; agreements with and payments made to certain advisors; investors, including investor meetings and agreements; the appointment of certain of Digital World’s officers and directors; policies and procedures relating to trading; and documents sufficient to identify banking, telephone, and email addresses. According to the SEC’s request and subpoena, the investigation does not mean that the SEC has concluded that anyone violated the law or that the SEC has a negative opinion of us or any person, entity, or security. Any resolution of the inquiry or investigation, as well as proceedings by the SEC, FINRA, or other governmental or regulatory authorities, could result in the imposition of significant fines, penalties, injunctions, prohibitions on the conduct of Digital World’s business, damage to its reputation and other sanctions against it, including restrictions on its activities. Digital World is cooperating with the SEC.

Following the Business Combination, Delaware law and New Digital World’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws will contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions, that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.

Following the Business Combination, the Amended Charter and New Digital World’s bylaws, and the DGCL, will contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by New Digital World’s board of directors and therefore depress the trading price of New Digital World’s common stock. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of the TMTG Board or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in the management of the Combined Entity. Among other things, the Amended Charter and New Digital World’s bylaws include provisions regarding:

 

   

a classified board of directors with three-year staggered terms, which could delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of New Digital World’s board of directors;

 

   

the ability of New Digital World’s board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock, including “blank check” preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;

 

   

the limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, New Digital World’s directors and officers;

 

   

the exclusive right of New Digital World’s board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of New Digital World’s board of directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on New Digital World’s board of directors;

 

   

the requirement that directors may only be removed from New Digital World’s board of directors for cause;

 

   

a prohibition on stockholder action by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of stockholders and could delay the ability of stockholders to force consideration of a stockholder proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;

 

   

the requirement that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by New Digital World’s board of directors, the chairperson of New Digital World’s board of directors, New Digital World’s chief executive officer or New Digital World’s president (in the absence of a chief executive officer), which could delay the ability of stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;

 

   

the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of board of directors and stockholder meetings;

 

   

the requirement for the affirmative vote of holders of at least 2/3 of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares of the voting stock, voting together as a single class, to amend, alter, change or repeal any provision of the Amended Charter or New Digital World’s bylaws, which could preclude

 

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stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders and delay changes in New Digital World’s board of directors and also may inhibit the ability of an acquirer to effect such amendments to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt;

 

   

the ability of New Digital World’s board of directors to amend the bylaws, which may allow New Digital World’s board of directors to take additional actions to prevent an unsolicited takeover and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to amend the bylaws to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt; and

 

   

advance notice procedures with which stockholders must comply to nominate candidates to New Digital World’s board of directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders and delay changes in New Digital World’s board of directors and also may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Combined Entity.

These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in New Digital World’s board of directors or management.

Any provision of the Amended Charter, New Digital World’s bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control could limit the opportunity for stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of New Digital World’s capital stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for New Digital World’s common stock.

Following the Business Combination, the Amended Charter will designate a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between New Digital World and its stockholders, and also provide that the federal district courts will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, each of which could limit the ability of New Digital World’s stockholders to choose the judicial forum for disputes with New Digital World or its directors, officers, or employees.

Following the Business Combination, the Amended Charter, which will become effective upon the Closing, will provide that, unless New Digital World consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on its behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of its directors, officers, or other employees to New Digital World or its stockholders, (iii) any action arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, or the certificate of incorporation or the bylaws or (iv) any other action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware), in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants. The Amended Charter will also provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. The exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of New Digital World’s securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. This exclusive-forum provision may

 

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limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with New Digital World or its directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against New Digital World and its directors, officers, and other employees. If a court were to find the exclusive-forum provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, New Digital World may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could harm its results of operations.

The Combined Entity’s disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect all errors or acts of fraud.

The Combined Entity is subject to certain reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. The Combined Entity’s disclosure controls and procedures will be designed to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed in reports to file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC. The Combined Entity believes that any disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in the control system, misstatements, or insufficient disclosures due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

TMTG’s management team may not successfully or efficiently manage its transition to being a public company.

As a public company, TMTG will incur new obligations relating to its reporting, procedures, and internal controls. These new obligations and attendant scrutiny will require investments of significant time and energy from TMTG’s executives and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of TMTG’s business, which in turn could adversely affect TMTG’s financial condition or operating results.

The members of TMTG’s management team have extensive experience leading complex organizations. However, they have limited experience managing a publicly-traded company, interacting with public company investors, and complying with the increasingly complex laws, rules and regulations that specifically govern public companies.

TMTG has agreed to indemnify TMTG’s officers and directors against lawsuits to the fullest extent of the law.

TMTG is a Delaware corporation. Delaware law permits the indemnification of officers and directors against expenses incurred in successfully defending against a claim. Delaware law also authorizes Delaware corporations to indemnify their officers and directors against expenses and liabilities incurred because of their being or having been an officer or director. TMTG’s organizational documents provide for this indemnification to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.

Prior to, and in no event not later than, the closing of the Business Combination, TMTG will obtain director and officer liability insurance to cover liabilities TMTG’s directors and key executive officers may incur in connection with their services to TMTG. There is no guarantee that such insurance coverage will protect TMTG from any damages or loss claims filed against it, or that such coverage will be available on reasonable economic terms satisfactory and acceptable to TMTG.

The underwriters of Digital World’s initial public offering may waive or release parties to the lock-up agreements entered into in connection with this Business Combination, which could adversely affect the price of the Combined Entity’s securities, including its common stock.

TMTG, all of TMTG’s directors and executive officers, and certain of TMTG’s other significant stockholders have entered into lock-up agreements pursuant to which TMTG and they are subject to certain

 

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restrictions with respect to the sale or other disposition of the Combined Entity’s common stock for a period beginning at the Closing and end the earliest of: (i) the six-month anniversary of the Closing, (ii) on the date on which the closing stock price for New Digital World common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing, and (iii) such date on which New Digital World completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the New Digital World stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of New Digital World common stock for cash, securities or other property. The underwriters, at any time and without notice, may release all or any portion of the common stock subject to the foregoing lock-up agreements. If the restrictions under the lock-up agreements are waived, then the common stock, subject to compliance with the Securities Act or exceptions therefrom, will be available for sale into the public markets, which could cause the market price of the Combined Entity’s common stock to decline and impair the Combined Entity’s ability to raise capital. Sales of a substantial number of shares upon expiration of the lock-up and market stand-off agreements, the perception that such sales may occur, or early release of these agreements, could cause the market price of Combined Entity’s common stock to fall or make it more difficult for you to sell your common stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate.

Anti-takeover effects of certain provisions of Delaware state law could hinder a potential takeover of the Combined Entity.

The Combined Entity is subject to statutory “anti-takeover” provisions under Delaware law; the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover law. In general, Section 203 of the DGCL which may prohibit certain business combinations with stockholders owning 15% or more of the Combined Entity’s outstanding voting stock. These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions in the Combined Entity’s Amended Charter and amended and restated bylaws could make it more difficult for stockholders or potential acquirers to obtain control of the Combined Entity’s board of directors or initiate actions that are opposed by the then-current board of directors and could also delay or impede a merger, tender offer or proxy contest involving the Combined Entity. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing or cause the Combined Entity to take other corporate actions you desire. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction or changes in the Combined Entity’s board of directors could cause the market price of the Combined Entity’s common stock to decline.

Certain provisions of the Combined Entity’s amended and restated bylaws are intended to strengthen the position of the Combined Entity’s board of directors in the event of a hostile takeover attempt. These provisions have the effect of providing the Combined Entity’s board of directors with the sole power to fill vacancies on the Combined Entity’s board of directors and providing that stockholders may only call a special meeting by the request, in writing, of stockholders owning individually or together ten percent (10%) or more of the entire capital stock of the corporation issued and outstanding and entitled to vote.

Therefore, the provisions of the Control Share Acquisition Act do not apply to acquisitions of the Combined Entity’s shares and will not until such time as these requirements have been met. At such time as they may apply to us, the provisions of the Control Share Acquisition Act may discourage companies or persons interested in acquiring a significant interest in or control of the Combined Entity, regardless of whether such acquisition may be in the interest of the Combined Entity’s stockholders.

The Combined Entity may include provisions in its certificate of incorporation that may discourage a third party from making a proposal to acquire us, even if some of its stockholders might consider the proposal to be in their best interests. For example, the Combined Entity may amend its certificate of incorporation to authorize its board of directors to issue one (1) or more classes or series of preferred stock that could discourage or delay a tender offer or change in control. In addition, the Combined Entity may enter into a stockholder rights plan, commonly known as a “poison pill,” that may delay or prevent a change of control.

 

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Provisions in the Amended Charter and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against the Combined Entity directors and officers.

The Amended Charter requires, unless the Combined Entity consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on the Combined Entity’s behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to the Combined Entity or the Combined Entity’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Combined Entity, the Combined Entity’s directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the Amended Charter or the Combined Entity’s bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Combined Entity, the Combined Entity’s directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any claim (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a Court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although the Combined Entity believes this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a Court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against the Combined Entity’s directors and officers, although the Combined Entity’s stockholders will not be deemed to have waived the Combined Entity’s compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

The Combined Entity’s bylaws further provide that, unless the Combined Entity consents in writing to an alternative forum, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. The Combined Entity’s bylaws also provide that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of the Combined Entity’s capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to this choice of forum provision. The Combined Entity recognizes that the forum selection clause in the Combined Entity’s bylaws may impose additional litigation costs on stockholders in pursuing any such claims, particularly if the stockholders do not reside in or near the State of Florida. Additionally, the forum selection clause in the Combined Entity’s bylaws may limit the Combined Entity’s stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or the Combined Entity’s directors, officers or employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and the Combined Entity’s directors, officers and employees even though an action, if successful, might benefit the Combined Entity’s stockholders. If a court were to find these exclusive-forum provisions in the Combined Entity’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, the Combined Entity may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could seriously harm the Combined Entity’s business. Nothing in the Combined Entity’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws will preclude stockholders that assert claims under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act from bringing such claims in state or federal court, subject to applicable law.

Following the consummation of the Business Combination, New Digital World will incur significant increased expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations.

Following the consummation of the Business Combination, New Digital World will face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that TMTG does not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including the requirements of Section 404, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”) and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements

 

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will increase costs and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements will require New Digital World to carry out activities TMTG has not done previously. For example, New Digital World will create new board committees and adopt new internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. In addition, expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements will be incurred. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified, New Digital World could incur additional costs rectifying those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect New Digital World’s reputation or investor perceptions of it. It may also be more expensive to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Risks associated with New Digital World’s status as a public company may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on the New Digital World Board or as executive officers. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations will increase legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs will require New Digital World to divert a significant amount of money that could otherwise be used to expand the business and achieve strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.

If New Digital World does not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will only be able to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis.”

If New Digital World does not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at the time that holders wish to exercise such warrants, they will only be able to exercise them on a “cashless basis” provided that an exemption from registration is available. As a result, New Digital World will not receive the cash that would be paid upon exercise of the warrants, but the number of shares of common stock that holders will receive upon exercise of the warrants will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised its warrant for cash. Further, if an exemption from registration is not available, holders would not be able to exercise on a cashless basis and would only be able to exercise their warrants for cash if a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is available. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, New Digital World has agreed to use its best efforts to meet these conditions and to file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants.

The Combined Entity may be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the applicable rules of Nasdaq and, as a result, may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. If the Combined Entity relies on these exemptions, its stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.

Upon the Closing, depending on the number of shares of common stock redeemed by the Combined Entity’s public stockholders and the number of shares of common stock issued upon conversion of the Preferred Stock, the former TMTG equity holders may control a majority of the voting power of the Combined Entity’s outstanding common stock, and the Company may then be a “controlled company” within the meaning of applicable rules of Nasdaq upon the Closing of the Business Combination. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements:

 

   

that a majority of the board consists of independent directors;

 

   

for an annual performance evaluation of the nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees;

 

   

that the controlled company has a nominating and corporate governance committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and

 

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that the controlled company has a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibility.

While TMTG does not intend to rely on these exemptions, the Combined Entity may use these exemptions now or in the future. As a result, the Combined Entity’s stockholders may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.

The future exercise of registration rights may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Certain of our stockholders will have registration rights for restricted securities. We are obligated to register certain securities, including all of the shares of common stock held by the Sponsor, shares of common stock received by certain significant TMTG stockholders as part of the Business Combination and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We are obligated to (i) file a resale “shelf” registration statement to register such securities (and any shares of TMTG common stock into which they may be exercised following the consummation of the Business Combination) within 15 business days after of the Closing and (ii) use reasonable best efforts to cause such registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC as soon as reasonably practicable after the filing. Subject to the rights of the PIPE Investors, we will file a registration statement with respect to all of those shares after the closing of the initial business combination. Sales of a substantial number of shares of common stock pursuant to the resale registration statement in the public market could occur at any time the registration statement remains effective. In addition, certain registration rights holders can request underwritten offerings to sell their securities. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock.

Future resales of New Digital World’s common stock after the consummation of the Business Combination may cause the market price of New Digital World’s securities to drop significantly, even if New Digital World’s business is doing well.

In connection with the Business Combination, certain TMTG Stockholders and certain of TMTG’s officers and directors entered into a lock-up agreement pursuant to which they will be contractually restricted from selling or transferring any of (i) their shares of New Digital World’s common stock held immediately following the Closing and (ii) any of their shares of New Digital World’s common stock that result from converting securities held immediately following the Closing (the “Lock-up Shares”). Such restrictions begin at Closing and end the earliest of: (i) the six-month anniversary of the Closing, (ii) on the date on which the closing stock price for New Digital World common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing, and (iii) such date on which New Digital World completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the New Digital World stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of New Digital World common stock for cash, securities or other property.

The Sponsor is subject to a lock-up pursuant to a letter agreement, entered into at the time of the IPO, among Digital World, the Sponsor and the other parties thereto, pursuant to which the Sponsor is subject to a lock-up beginning on the Closing and end the earliest of: (i) the six-month anniversary of the Closing, (ii) on the date on which the closing stock price for New Digital World common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing, and (iii) such date on which Digital World completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Digital World stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Digital World common stock for cash, securities or other property.

However, following the expiration of such lock-ups, the Sponsor and the holders of Lock-Up Shares will not be restricted from selling shares of New Digital World’s common stock held by them, other than by applicable securities laws. Additionally, the PIPE Investors will not be restricted from selling any of their shares of New Digital World’s common stock following the closing of the Business Combination, other than by applicable

 

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securities laws. As such, sales of a substantial number of shares of New Digital World common stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of New Digital World common stock. Upon completion of the Business Combination, the Sponsor and the TMTG Stockholders (including the shares of New Digital World common stock issued as awards as a result of conversion of TMTG common stock that were reserved for issuance pursuant to TMTG’s outstanding stock options and unvested restricted stock units outstanding as of immediately prior to the Closing) will collectively beneficially own approximately 62.2% of the outstanding shares of New Digital World common stock, assuming that no additional public stockholders redeem their public shares in connection with the Business Combination. Assuming approximately 28.8 million public shares are redeemed in connection with the Business Combination, in the aggregate, the ownership of the Sponsor and the TMTG Stockholders would rise to approximately 76.0% of the outstanding shares of New Digital World common stock (including the shares of TMTG common stock reserved in respect of TMTG’s outstanding stock options and unvested restricted stock units outstanding as of immediately prior to the Closing that will be converted into awards based on New Digital World common stock).

The shares held by Sponsor and the Lock-Up Stockholders may be sold after the expiration of their applicable lock-up periods. As restrictions on resale end and registration statements (filed after the Closing to provide for the resale of such shares from time to time) are available for use, the sale or possibility of sale of these shares could have the effect of increasing the volatility in New Digital World’s share price or the market price of New Digital World common stock could decline if the holders of currently restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them.

Digital World may be adversely affected by economic uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets, including as a result of the military conflict in Ukraine.

In late February 2022, Russian military forces invaded Ukraine. Russia’s invasion, the responses of countries and political bodies to Russia’s actions, and the potential for wider conflict may increase financial market volatility and could have adverse effects on regional and global economic markets, including the markets for certain securities and commodities. Following Russia’s actions, various countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, as well as the European Union, issued broad-ranging economic sanctions against Russia. The sanctions consist of the prohibition of trading in certain Russian securities and engaging in certain private transactions, the prohibition of doing business with certain Russian corporate entities, large financial institutions, officials and persons, and the freezing of Russian assets. The sanctions include a possible commitment by certain countries and the European Union to remove selected Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, commonly called “SWIFT”, the electronic network that connects banks globally, and imposed restrictive measures to prevent the Russian Central Bank from undermining the impact of the sanctions. A number of large corporations and U.S. states have also announced plans to curtail business dealings with certain Russian businesses.

The imposition of the current sanctions (and potential imposition of further sanctions in response to continued Russian military activity) and other actions undertaken by countries and businesses may adversely impact various sectors of the Russian economy, and the military action has severe impacts on the Ukrainian economy, including its exports and food production. The duration of ongoing hostilities and corresponding sanctions and related events cannot be predicted and may result in a negative impact on the markets and thereby may negatively impact Digital World’s ability to consummate a business combination.

Risks Related to TMTG

Unless the context otherwise requires, references to “we”, “us” and “our” in this subsection “— Risks Related to TMTG” generally refer to TMTG in the present tense and the Combined Entity from and after the Business Combination.

 

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Investing in us involves a high degree of risk. Before you invest in us, you should carefully consider the following risks, as well as general economic and business risks, and all of the other information contained in this prospectus. Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition and cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, which would cause you to lose all or part of your investment. When determining whether to invest, you should also refer to the other information contained in this prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes thereto, and the other financial information concerning us included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Risks Related to TMTG’s Business

TMTG has no operating history making it difficult to evaluate TMTG’s business and prospects and may increase the risks associated with your investment.

TMTG was formed on February 8, 2021 and started formulating its business plan at that time. TMTG did not begin developing the TruthSocial platform until June 2021. TMTG made TruthSocial available for general use in the first quarter of 2022. TMTG prides itself on its ability to build TruthSocial without the help of hostile technology companies. Working exclusively with alternative technology firms that share our commitment to free speech, TMTG fully launched TruthSocial for iOS on April 21, 2022 and made the platform available on other desktop and mobile devices on May 18, 2022. TMTG cannot assure you that it will be able to operate its business successfully or implement its operating policies and strategies as described elsewhere in this prospectus. TMTG may encounter risks and challenges frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly developing industries, including risks related to its ability to:

 

   

build a reputation for providing a superior platform and customer service, and for creating trust and long-term relationships with its potential customers;

 

   

implement a revenue model that will allow it to develop predictable revenues;

 

   

distinguish itself from competitors;

 

   

develop and offer a competitive platform that meets TMTG’s customers’ needs as they change;

 

   

improve TMTG’s current operational infrastructure and non-platform technology to support its growth and to respond to the evolution of TMTG’s market and competitors’ developments;

 

   

develop, maintain and expand TMTG’s relationships with suppliers of quality advertising;

 

   

respond to evolving industry standards and government regulation that impact TMTG’s business;

 

   

prevent or mitigate failures or breaches of security; and

 

   

hire and retain qualified and motivated employees.

If TMTG is unable to do so, its business may suffer, its revenue and operating results may decline and TMTG may not be able to achieve further growth or sustain profitability.

Since inception, TMTG has continuously sought to develop its business model through the development of its technology as an early stage company. TMTG expects to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future.

TMTG to date has been involved primarily in organizational activities and technology development. TMTG has only recently made TruthSocial generally available and commenced other marketing trials of TMTG’s products and services. Further, TMTG has not yet fully developed its business plan or its management team, although TMTG has targeted and assembled certain intellectual property and real or intangible property rights. Accordingly, TMTG has no way to evaluate the likelihood that its business will be successful. Potential investors should be aware of the difficulties normally encountered by a new social media platform and the high rate of failure for such enterprises. The likelihood of success must be considered in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, problems, expenses, difficulties, complications and delays encountered in connection with the operations that

 

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TMTG plans to undertake. These potential problems include, but are not limited to, unanticipated problems relating to the development of TruthSocial, lack of market acceptance of TruthSocial or TMTG+ by users, and challenges relating to bringing potential vendors to participate in TMTG’s development and any additional costs and expenses that may exceed current estimates. TMTG expects to incur significant losses into the foreseeable future. TMTG recognizes that if the effectiveness of its business plan is not forthcoming it will not be able to continue business operations. There is no operating history upon which to base any assumption as to the likelihood that TMTG will prove successful and TMTG may never generate any operating revenues or ever achieve profitable operations. If TMTG is unsuccessful in addressing these risks, its business will most likely fail.

TMTG’s actual financial position and results of operations may differ materially from the expectations of TMTG’s management.

TMTG’s actual financial position and results of operations may differ materially from management’s expectations and the pro forma amounts reflected herein. As a result, TMTG’s revenue, net income and cash flow may differ materially from TMTG’s anticipated revenue, net income and cash flow. The process for estimating TMTG’s revenue, net income and cash flow requires the use of judgment in determining the appropriate assumptions and estimates. These estimates and assumptions may be revised as additional information becomes available and as additional analyses are performed. In addition, the assumptions used in planning may not prove to be accurate, and other factors may affect TMTG’s financial condition or results of operations.

The nominal purchase price paid by the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World for the Founder Shares may significantly dilute the implied value of the Public Shares in the event the parties complete an initial Business Combination. In addition, the value of the Founder Shares will be significantly greater than the amount the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World paid to purchase such shares in the event the parties complete an initial business Combination, even if the Business Combination causes the trading price of the New Digital World common stock to materially decline.

The nominal purchase price paid by the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World for the Founder Shares may significantly dilute the implied value of the Public Shares in the event we complete an initial business combination. In addition, the value of the Founder Shares will be significantly greater than the amount the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World paid to purchase such shares in the event we complete an initial Business Combination, even if the Business Combination causes the trading price of the New Digital World common stock to materially decline. The Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World invested an aggregate of $11,359,840, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the Founder Shares and the $11,334,840 purchase price for the Placement Units. The amount held in our Trust Account was approximately $293,286,629 as of March 31, 2022, implying a value of $10.20 per Public Share. Based on these assumptions, each share of New Digital World common stock would have an implied value of $1.85 per share upon completion of our initial Business Combination, representing a 81.86% decrease from the initial implied value of $10.20 per Public Share. While the implied value of $1.85 per share upon completion of our initial Business Combination would represent a dilution to our public stockholders, this would represent a significant increase in value for the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World relative to the price it paid for each Founder Share. At $0.005 per share, the 5,537,500 shares of New Digital World common stock that the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World holding Founder Shares would own upon completion of our initial Business Combination would have an aggregate implied value of $10,244,375. As a result, even if the trading price of the New Digital World common stock significantly declines, the value of the Founder Shares held by the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World will be significantly greater than the amount the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World paid to purchase such shares. In addition, the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World could potentially recoup their entire investment, inclusive of their investment in the Placement Units, even if the trading price of the New Digital World common stock after the initial Business Combination is as low as $1.54 per share. As a result, the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World holding Founder Shares are likely to earn a substantial profit on their investment upon disposition of shares of New Digital World common stock

 

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even if the trading price of the New Digital World common stock declines after the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World holding Founder Shares may therefore be economically incentivized to complete an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or less-established target business, or on terms less favorable to the public stockholders, rather than liquidating Digital World. This dilution would increase to the extent that public stockholders seek redemptions from the Trust Account for their Public Shares.

TMTG’s reputation, competitive advantage, financial position and relationships with its users could be materially harmed if TMTG is unable to comply with complex and evolving data protection and privacy laws and regulations, and the costs and resources required to achieve compliance may have a materially adverse impact.

TMTG’s reputation, competitive advantage, financial position and relationships with its users could be materially harmed if TMTG is unable to comply with complex and evolving data protection and privacy laws and regulations, and the costs and resources required to achieve compliance may have a materially adverse impact on its business. In the course of delivering TMTG’s product(s), TMTG expects to collect, transmit and store information which is related to and seeks to correlate internet-connected devices, user activity and the advertisements it places. Federal, state, and international laws and regulations govern the collection, use, processing, retention, sharing and security of data that TMTG may collect across TMTG’s advertising solutions. TMTG strives to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, policies and legal obligations relating to privacy and data collection, processing use and disclosure. However, the applicability of specific laws may be unclear in some cases and domestic and foreign government regulation and enforcement of data practices and data tracking technologies is expansive, not clearly defined and rapidly evolving. In addition, it is possible that these requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is new or inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or TMTG’s practices. Any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with U.S. federal, state or international laws, including laws and regulations regulating privacy, data, security or consumer protection, or disclosure or unauthorized access by third parties to this information, could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, competitors, private parties or others. Any proceedings or actions against us alleging violations of consumer or data protection laws or asserting privacy-related theories could hurt TMTG’s reputation, force TMTG to spend significant amounts in defense of these proceedings, distract its management, increase its costs of doing business, adversely affect the demand for its solutions and ultimately result in the imposition of monetary liability. TMTG may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless TMTG’s customers from the costs or consequences of litigation resulting from using TMTG’s solutions or from the disclosure of confidential information, which could damage TMTG’s reputation among its current and potential customers, and may require significant expenditures of capital and other resources which could cause it to lose business and revenue.

The collection, protection and use of personal data are governed by privacy laws and regulations enacted in the United States and other jurisdictions around the world in which TMTG operates or plans to operate. These laws and regulations continue to evolve and may be inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another. Compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations may increase TMTG’s costs of doing business and adversely impact its ability to conduct its business and market its solutions, products and services to its members and potential members.

For example, TMTG is subject to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“GDPR”), which applies to all members of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and, in some circumstances, to processors in a state outside the EEA including any business, regardless of its location, that provides goods or services to individuals located in the EEA. The GDPR imposes significant obligations on data controllers and data processors, requiring the implementation of more stringent requirements for the processing of personal data. If TMTG fails to comply with the GDPR, it may lead to regulatory investigation with possible enforcement of monetary penalties ranging from 10 million to 20 million euro, or 2% to 4% of annual worldwide revenue (whichever is higher), private or class action lawsuits and/or reputational damage.

 

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Further, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (“UK”) from the European Union (“EU”) could lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations. In particular, while the Data Protection Act of 2018, which supplements the GDPR, is now effective in the UK alongside the UK GDPR, it is still unclear whether transfer of data from the EEA to the UK will remain lawful under the GDPR without additional safeguards.

EU laws regulate transfers of EEA personal data to third countries, such as the United States, that have not been found to provide adequate protection to such personal data. Recent legal developments in the EU have created complexity and uncertainty regarding transfers of personal data from the EEA and the UK to the United States and other jurisdictions. For example, on July 16, 2020, the European Court of Justice (“CJEU”) invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework (“Privacy Shield”), which provided companies with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the EEA/UK to the United States. The same decision also cast doubt on the ability to use one of the primary alternatives to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, namely, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs”), to lawfully transfer personal data from Europe to the United States and most other countries (though the SCCs currently remain a valid data transfer mechanism under the GDPR and UK GDPR). At present, there are few if any viable alternatives to the Privacy Shield Frameworks and the SCCs for the foregoing purposes, which may lead to governmental enforcement actions, litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business.

In Canada, TMTG is subject to Canada’s Personal Information and Protection of Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). PIPEDA provides Canadian residents with privacy protections and sets out rules for how companies may collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, these and other international data privacy and security laws may limit the use and adoption of TMTG’s solutions, products and services and could have a materially adverse impact on its business. Any failure or perceived failure by TMTG or third-party service providers to comply with international data privacy and security laws may lead to regulatory enforcement actions, fines, private lawsuits or reputational damage.

Additionally, in June 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which provides new data privacy rights for consumers and new operational requirements for companies. The CCPA gives California residents new rights to access and require deletion of their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing, and receive detailed information about how their personal information is collected, used, and shared. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, and creates a private right of action for security breaches that could lead to consumer class actions and other litigation against the Company. If TMTG fails to comply with the CCPA or other federal or state data protection and data privacy laws, or if regulators or plaintiffs assert the Company has failed to comply with them, it may lead to regulatory enforcement actions, private lawsuits and/or reputational damage. Additionally, a new California ballot initiative, the California Privacy Rights Act, or the CPRA, passed in California in November 2020. The CPRA will impose additional data protection obligations on companies doing business in California, including additional consumer rights processes and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. The majority of the provisions will go into effect on January 1, 2023, and additional compliance investment and changes to business processes may be required.

The FTC has also adopted revisions to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) that expands liability for the collection of information by operators of websites and other electronic solutions that are directed to children. Questions exist as to how regulators and courts may interpret the scope and circumstances for potential liability under COPPA, and the FTC continues to provide guidance and clarification as to its 2013 revisions of COPPA. FTC guidance or enforcement precedent may make it difficult or impractical for TMTG to provide advertising on certain websites, services or applications. In addition, the FTC recently fined an ad network for certain methods of collecting and using data from mobile applications, including certain applications directed at children, and failing to disclose the data collection to mobile application developers in its network.

 

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Evolving definitions of personal data within the EU, especially relating to the classification of IP addresses, machine or device identifiers, geo-location data and other such information, may cause TMTG to change its business practices, diminish the quality of its data and the value of its solution, and hamper its ability to expand its offerings. TMTG’s failure to comply with evolving interpretations of applicable laws and regulations, or to adequately protect personal data, could result in enforcement action against us or reputational harm, which could have a material adverse impact on TMTG’s business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition to compliance with government regulations, TMTG expects to participate in trade associations and industry self-regulatory groups that promulgate best practices or codes of conduct addressing the provision of internet advertising. TMTG could be adversely affected by changes to these guidelines and codes in ways that are inconsistent with its practices or in conflict with the laws and regulations of U.S. or international regulatory authorities. For instance, new guidelines, codes or interpretations, by self-regulatory organizations or government agencies, may require additional disclosures or additional consumer consents, such as “opt-in” permissions to share, link or use data, such as health data from third parties, in certain ways. If TMTG fails to abide by, or are perceived as not operating in accordance with, industry best practices or any industry guidelines or codes with regard to privacy, its reputation may suffer and TMTG could lose relationships with advertisers and digital media properties.

Economic downturns and market conditions beyond TMTG’s control could adversely affect its business, financial condition and operating results. The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to continue to have, an adverse impact on our business, including our financial results and prospects.

TMTG’s business depends on the overall demand for advertising and on the economic health of advertisers that benefit from TruthSocial. Economic downturns or unstable market conditions, such as those potentially created by the outbreak of COVID-19 discussed herein, may cause advertisers to decrease their advertising budgets, which could reduce spend with TruthSocial and adversely affect TMTG’s business, financial condition and operating results. Our business, operations and financial performance have been, and may in the future be, negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health responses, such as travel bans, restrictions, social distancing requirements and shelter-in-place orders. The pandemic and these related responses have caused, and may in the future cause, decreased advertiser demand for our platform, global slowdown of economic activity, disruptions of major events, volatility and disruption of financial markets, and changes in consumer behavior. For example, to the extent the pandemic continues to disrupt economic activity globally, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results through prolonged decreases in advertising spend, credit deterioration of our customers, depressed economic activity, or declines in capital markets. While the economy is reopening in various parts of the world, some countries and locations are reinstating lockdowns and other restrictions that make a full recovery difficult to predict. We continue to monitor the evolving situation and guidance from international and domestic authorities, including federal, state and local public health authorities, and there may be developments outside our control requiring us to adjust our operating plan.

The loss of key personnel or the inability of replacements to quickly and successfully perform in their new roles could adversely affect TMTG’s business.

TMTG depends on the leadership and experience of its relatively small number of key executive management personnel. The pursuit of the merger and the preparation for the integration has placed a burden on TMTG’s management and internal resources. TMTG has experienced management departures, and may continue to experience management departures. Any significant diversion of management attention away from ongoing business concerns and any difficulties encountered in the transition and integration process could have a material adverse effect on TMTG’s business, financial condition and results of operations. The loss of the services of these key employees or TMTG’s executive management members could have a material adverse effect on TMTG’s business and prospects, as TMTG may not be able to find suitable individuals to replace such personnel on a timely basis or without incurring increased costs. Furthermore, if TMTG loses or terminates the services of

 

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one or more of its key employees or if one or more of TMTG’s current or former executives or key employees joins a competitor or otherwise competes with us, it could impair TMTG’s business and its ability to successfully implement TMTG’s business plan. Additionally, if TMTG is unable to hire qualified replacements for its executive and other key positions in a timely fashion, its ability to execute its business plan would be harmed. Even if TMTG can quickly hire qualified replacements, TMTG could experience operational disruptions and inefficiencies during any such transition. TMTG believes that its future success will depend on its continued ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel.

In addition, many of TMTG’s key technologies and systems will be custom-made for TMTG’s business by TMTG’s personnel. The loss of key engineering, product development, marketing and sales personnel could disrupt TMTG’s operations and have an adverse effect on TMTG’s business.

As TMTG continues to grow, TMTG cannot guarantee TMTG will continue to attract the personnel TMTG needs to maintain TMTG’s competitive position. In particular, TMTG intends to hire a significant number of technically-skilled personnel in 2022, and TMTG expects to face significant competition from other companies in hiring such personnel. As TMTG matures, the incentives to attract, retain and motivate employees provided by TMTG’s equity awards or by future arrangements, such as through cash bonuses, may not be effective. TMTG has a number of current employees who upon the completion of the Business Combination, and thereafter, will be entitled to receive substantial amounts of TMTG capital stock. As a result, it may be difficult for TMTG to continue to retain and motivate these employees, and the vesting of equity incentives could affect their decisions about whether or not they continue to work for TMTG. If TMTG does not succeed in attracting, hiring and integrating excellent personnel, or retaining and motivating existing personnel, TMTG may be unable to grow effectively

If TruthSocial or the TMTG+ streaming service fail to develop and maintain followers or a sufficient audience, if adverse trends develop in the social media platforms and streaming services business generally, or if President Trump were to cease to be able to devote substantial time to TruthSocial or TMTG+ streaming service, TMTG’s business would be adversely affected.

Social media platform and streaming services are speculative businesses because revenues and income derived from them depend primarily upon the continued acceptance of that platform and streaming services by the public. Public acceptance of a particular platform or programming depends upon, among other things, the ease of use of the platform, the quality of that programming, promotion of that programming, the quality and acceptance of competing platforms, streaming services and television programming and other sources of entertainment and information. A ratings decline could make it economically inefficient to continue providing for the use of the platform or the production of the streaming services program. If President Trump fails to attract and retain the public’s interest or the services provided by TruthSocial and TMTG+, or if the customer base were to cease using TruthSocial or subscribing to TMTG+, it could result in a write-down of TMTG’s capitalized development costs. The amount of any write-down would vary depending on a number of factors, including when the product or service ceased and the extent to which TMTG continued to generate revenues from the use of TMTG’s existing program library.

Adverse trends in the social media platform and streaming services of production business generally could harm TMTG’s revenues.

Social media platform and streaming services revenues and income may also be negatively affected by a number of other factors, most of which are not within TMTG’s control. These factors include a general decline in viewers, pricing pressure in the advertising industry, participants in TruthSocial, general economic conditions, increases in production costs, availability of other forms of entertainment and leisure time activities and other factors. All of these factors may quickly change, and these changes cannot be predicted with certainty. TMTG’s future licensing fees may also be adversely affected by these changes. Accordingly, if any of these changes were to occur, the revenues and income TMTG generates from its products and services could decline.

 

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TMTG has placed emphasis on building a platform for all Americans to freely express themselves through TruthSocial. In particular, President Trump has stated that this is a platform for all who have been censored by Big Tech. Failure to realize this vision would adversely affect TMTG’s brand and business prospects.

TruthSocial is being developed as a global platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time, and the market for TruthSocial is relatively new and may not develop as expected, if at all. People who are not TruthSocial users may not understand the value of TruthSocial and new users may initially find TruthSocial confusing. There may be a perception that TruthSocial is only useful to users who share Truths, or to influential users with large audiences. Convincing potential new users, especially users who oppose Big Tech censorship, of the value of TruthSocial is critical to increasing TMTG’s user base and to the success of TMTG’s business. In addition, there are a number of other social media platforms that focus on the same audience that TruthSocial will focus on. To the extent users prefer a platform that is not associated with President Trump, our ability to attract users may decrease. Failure to attract a sufficient user base would adversely affect TMTG’s business prospects.

TMTG has placed emphasis on providing streaming services wherein the programming would be “non-woke” and will cancel “cancel culture.” Particularly, President Trump has stated that TMTG will stand up to “cancel culture” and the “self-righteous scolds.” Failure to realize this vision would adversely affect TMTG’s brand and business prospects.

Maintaining and enhancing TruthSocial and TMTG+ may require TMTG to make substantial investments to develop and provide “non-woke” content which cancels “cancel culture” and these investments may not achieve the desired goals. If TMTG fails to successfully promote and maintain TMTG’s programming as one which is “non-woke” and one which cancels “cancel culture” or if TMTG incurs excessive expenses in this effort, its business and operating results could be adversely affected.

If TMTG’s users do not continue to contribute content or their contributions are not valuable to other users, TMTG may experience a decline in the number of users accessing its products and services and user engagement, which could result in the loss of advertisers and revenue.

TMTG’s success depends on its ability to provide users with products and services with valuable content, which in turn for TruthSocial depends on the content contributed by TMTG’s users. TMTG believes that one of TruthSocial’s competitive advantages will be the quality, quantity and real-time nature of the content on TruthSocial, and that access to unique or real-time content is one of the main reasons users may visit TruthSocial. TMTG seeks to foster a broad and engaged user community, and TMTG intends to encourage high-profile individuals and entities to use TMTG’s products and services to freely express their views to broad audiences without the fear of being censored or cancelled for any unpopular or non-woke opinions. TMTG may also encourage media outlets to use its products and services to distribute their content. If users, including influential users, do not contribute content to TruthSocial, and it is unable to provide users with valuable and timely content, TMTG’s user base and user engagement may decline. Additionally, if TMTG is not able to address user concerns regarding the safety and security of TruthSocial or if TMTG is unable to successfully prevent abusive or other hostile behavior on TruthSocial, the size of the TruthSocial user base and user engagement may decline. TMTG may rely on the sale of advertising services for the substantial majority of TMTG’s revenue. If TMTG experiences a decline in the number of users or a decline in user engagement, including as a result of the loss of high-profile individuals and entities who generate content on TruthSocial, advertisers may not view TruthSocial as attractive for their marketing expenditures, and may reduce their spending with us—which would harm TMTG’s business and operating results.

If TMTG+’s efforts to attract and retain subscribers and users are not successful, TMTG’s revenues will be affected adversely.

TMTG must attract and retain subscribers and users for TMTG+. To succeed, TMTG+ must attract a large number of subscribers who have traditionally used pay cable channels, such as HBO and Showtime,

 

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and pay-per-view and VOD, or competing streaming services such as Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix, for in-home filmed entertainment. TMTG’s ability to attract and retain subscribers will depend in part on TMTG+’s ability to consistently provide its subscribers a high-quality experience for selecting and viewing titles, including providing accurate recommendations. If consumers do not perceive TMTG+ programming to be of high quality, or if TMTG+ introduces new services that are not favorably received by consumers, TMTG+ may not be able to attract or retain subscribers. If TMTG’s efforts to attract and retain subscribers are not successful, its revenue will be affected adversely.

TMTG’s focus on product innovation and user engagement rather than short-term operating results may adversely affect TMTG’s revenues.

TMTG intends to quickly develop and launch new and innovative features. TMTG intends to focus on improving the user experience for TruthSocial and on developing new and improved products and services for the advertisers on TruthSocial. TMTG intends to prioritize innovation and the experience for users and advertisers on TruthSocial over short-term operating results. TMTG may frequently make product and service decisions that may reduce TMTG’s short-term operating results if it believes that the decisions are consistent with its goals to improve the user experience and performance for advertisers, which it believes will improve its operating results over the long term. These intended decisions may not be consistent with the short-term expectations of investors and may not produce the long-term benefits that TMTG expects, in which case TruthSocial user growth and user engagement, its relationships with advertisers and its business and operating results could be harmed. In addition, TMTG’s intent to focus on the user experience may negatively impact TMTG’s relationships with prospective advertisers. This could result in a loss of advertisers, which could harm TMTG’s revenue and operating results.

TruthSocial and TMTG+ user growth and engagement on mobile devices depend upon effective operation with mobile operating systems, networks, and standards that TMTG does not control.

TMTG intends to make its products and services available across a variety of operating systems and through websites. TMTG will be dependent on the interoperability of TruthSocial and TMTG+ with popular devices, desktop and mobile operating systems and web browsers that TMTG does not control, such as Mac OS, Windows, Android, iOS, Chrome and Firefox. Any changes in such systems, devices or web browsers that degrade the functionality of TMTG’s products and services or give preferential treatment to competitive products or services could adversely affect usage of TMTG’s products and services. Further, if the number of platforms for which TMTG develops its product expands, it will result in an increase in TMTG’s operating expenses. In order to deliver high-quality products and services, it is important that TMTG’s products and services work well with a range of operating systems, networks, devices, web browsers and standards that TMTG does not control. In addition, because a majority of TMTG’s future users may access TMTG’s products and services through mobile devices, TMTG is particularly dependent on the interoperability of its products and services with mobile devices and operating systems. TMTG may not be successful in developing relationships with key participants in the mobile industry or in developing products or services that operate effectively with these operating systems, networks, devices, web browsers and standards. In the event that it is difficult for TMTG’s users to access and use TMTG’s products and services, particularly on their mobile devices, TMTG’s user growth and engagement could be harmed, and its business and operating results could be adversely affected.

TMTG may not be successful in its efforts to grow and monetize the TruthSocial platform and TMTG+ streaming services.

Prospective developers may not be successful in building apps or websites that create and maintain user engagement. Additionally, potential developers may choose to build on other platforms, including mobile platforms controlled by third parties, rather than building on the TruthSocial platform or providing content for TMTG+ services. TMTG intends to balance the distribution objectives of TMTG’s developers with TMTG’s desire to provide an optimal user experience, and TMTG may not be successful in achieving a balance that

 

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attracts and retains TMTG’s product developers. If TMTG is not successful in its efforts to grow TMTG’s products or if TMTG is unable to build and maintain good relations with platform and streaming services developers, TMTG’s user growth and user engagement and TMTG’s financial results may be adversely affected.

TMTG’s estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate.

Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, whether obtained from third-party sources or developed internally, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may prove to be inaccurate. This is especially so at the present time due to the uncertain and rapidly changing projections of the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimates and forecasts included in this prospectus relating to the size and expected growth of the target market and market demand may also prove to be inaccurate. The estimated addressable market may not materialize in the timeframe of the projections included herein, if ever, and even if the markets meet the size estimates and growth estimates presented in this prospectus, our business could fail to grow at similar rates.

TMTG’s business depends on continued and unimpeded access to TruthSocial and TMTG+ on the Internet by TMTG’s users and advertisers. If TMTG or TMTG’s users experience disruptions in Internet service or if Internet service providers are able to block, degrade or charge for access to TMTG’s products and services, TMTG could incur additional expenses and the loss of users and advertisers.

TMTG depends on the ability of TMTG’s users and advertisers to access the Internet. This access will be provided by companies—including hostile legacy technology companies—that have significant market power in the broadband and Internet access marketplace, including incumbent telephone companies, cable companies, mobile communications companies, government-owned service providers, device manufacturers and operating system providers, any of whom could take actions that degrade, disrupt or increase the cost of user access to TMTG’s products or services, which would, in turn, negatively impact TMTG’s business. The adoption of any laws or regulations that adversely affect the growth, popularity or use of the Internet, including laws or practices limiting Internet neutrality, could decrease the demand for, or the usage of, TMTG’s products and services, increase TMTG’s cost of doing business and adversely affect TMTG’s operating results. TMTG will also rely on other companies to maintain reliable network systems that provide adequate speed, data capacity and security to us and TMTG’s users. As the Internet continues to experience growth in the number of users, frequency of use and amount of data transmitted, the Internet infrastructure that TMTG and its users rely on may be unable to support the demands placed upon it. The failure of the Internet infrastructure that TMTG or TMTG’s users rely on, even for a short period of time, could undermine TMTG’s operations and harm TMTG’s operating results.

If TMTG fails to expand effectively in international markets, TMTG’s revenue and TMTG’s business will be harmed.

TMTG may not be able to monetize TMTG’s products and services internationally as a result of competition, advertiser demand, differences in the digital advertising market and digital advertising conventions, as well as differences in the way that users in different countries access or utilize TMTG’s products and services. Differences in the competitive landscape in international markets may impact TMTG’s ability to monetize TMTG’s products and services.

TMTG’s operating results in TMTG+ are expected to be difficult to predict based on a number of factors that also will affect TMTG’s long-term performance.

TMTG expects its operating results in TMTG+ to fluctuate significantly in the future based on a variety of factors, many of which are outside TMTG’s control and difficult to predict. As a result, period-to-period comparisons of TMTG’s future operating results may not be a good indicator of TMTG’s future or long-term

 

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performance. The following factors may affect TMTG+ from period to period and may affect TMTG’s long-term performance:

 

   

TMTG’s ability to manage consumer expectations and secure effective technological support to handle significant increases in the number of subscribers and subscriber selections;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to improve or maintain gross margins in its business;

 

   

changes by TMTG’s competitors to their product and service offerings;

 

   

price competition;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to maintain an adequate breadth and depth of titles for TMTG+;

 

   

changes in promotional support offered by studios;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to maintain, upgrade and develop its website, its internal computer systems and any fulfillment processes;

 

   

fluctuations in consumer spending on streaming services related products;

 

   

fluctuations in the use of the Internet for the purchase of consumer goods and services such as those offered by TMTG+;

 

   

technical difficulties, system downtime or Internet disruptions;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to attract new and qualified personnel in a timely and effective manner and retain existing personnel;

 

   

the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to expansion of TMTG’s business, operations and infrastructure;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to effectively manage the development of new business segments and markets;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to maintain and develop new and existing marketing relationships;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to successfully manage the integration of operations and technology resulting from acquisitions;

 

   

governmental regulation and taxation policies; and

 

   

general economic conditions and economic conditions specific to the Internet, online commerce, and the movie industry.

TMTG’s business is highly competitive. Competition presents an ongoing threat to the success of TMTG’s business. If TMTG is unable to compete effectively for users and advertiser spend, TMTG’s business and operating results could be harmed.

Competition for users of TMTG’s products and services will be intense. Although TMTG intends to develop a new global platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time, TMTG will face strong competition in its business. TMTG will compete against many companies to attract and engage users, including companies which have greater financial resources and substantially larger user bases, such as Twitter, Meta/Facebook (including Instagram), Alphabet/Google, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Microsoft (including LinkedIn), and Yahoo!, which offer a variety of Internet and mobile device-based products, services and content. For example, Facebook and Twitter operate a social networking site with significantly more users than TruthSocial may have in the future. Additionally, as a private company under new ownership, Twitter may demonstrate a renewed commitment to free speech principles that will heighten competition for users who prioritize such principles.

TMTG believes that its ability to compete effectively for users depends upon many factors both within and beyond TMTG’s control, including:

 

   

the popularity, usefulness, ease of use, performance and reliability of TMTG’s products and services compared to those of TMTG’s competitors;

 

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the amount, quality and timeliness of content generated by TMTG’s users;

 

   

the timing and market acceptance of TMTG’s products and services;

 

   

the adoption of TMTG’s products and services internationally;

 

   

TMTG’s ability, and the ability of TMTG’s competitors, to develop new products and services and enhancements to existing products and services;

 

   

the frequency and relative prominence of the ads displayed by TMTG or TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to establish and maintain relationships with platform partners that integrate with TruthSocial;

 

   

changes mandated by, or that TMTG elects to make to address, legislation, regulatory authorities or litigation, including settlements and consent decrees, some of which may have a disproportionate effect on TMTG;

 

   

the application of antitrust laws both in the United States and internationally;

 

   

government action regulating competition;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to attract, retain and motivate talented employees, particularly engineers, designers and product managers;

 

   

acquisitions or consolidation within TMTG’s industry, which may result in more formidable competitors; and

 

   

TMTG’s reputation and the brand strength relative to its competitors.

TMTG will face significant competition for advertiser spend. TMTG’s revenue will initially be generated through ads on TruthSocial, and TMTG will compete against online and mobile businesses, including those referenced above, and traditional media outlets, such as television, radio and print, for advertising budgets. In order to grow TMTG’s revenue and improve TMTG’s operating results, TMTG may increase TMTG’s share of spending on advertising relative to TMTG’s competitors, many of which are larger companies that offer more traditional and widely accepted advertising products. In addition, some of TMTG’s larger competitors have substantially broader product or service offerings and user bases and leverage their relationships based on other products or services to gain additional share of advertising budgets.

TMTG believes that its ability to compete effectively for advertiser spend depends upon many factors both within and beyond TMTG’s control, including:

 

   

the size and composition of TMTG’s user base relative to those of TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

TMTG’s ad targeting capabilities, and those of TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

the timing and market acceptance of TMTG’s advertising services, and those of TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

TMTG’s marketing and selling efforts, and those of TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

the pricing for TMTG’s products relative to the advertising products and services of TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

the return TMTG’s advertisers receive from TMTG’s advertising services, and those of TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

TMTG’s reputation and the strength of TMTG’s brand relative to TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

the engagement of TMTG’s users with TMTG’s products;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to monetize TruthSocial, including TMTG’s ability to successfully monetize mobile usage;

 

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TMTG’s customer service and support efforts;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to establish and maintain developers’ interest in building TruthSocial and providing content for TMTG+;

 

   

acquisitions or consolidations within TMTG’s industry, which may result in more formidable competitors; and

 

   

TMTG’s ability to cost-effectively manage and grow its operations.

In recent years, there have been significant acquisitions and consolidation by and among TMTG’s potential competitors. TMTG anticipates this trend of consolidation will continue, which will present heightened competitive challenges for TMTG’s business. Acquisitions by TMTG’s competitors may result in reduced functionality of TruthSocial or availability of content for TMTG+. Any elimination of integration with TruthSocial in the future may adversely impact TMTG’s business and operating results.

Consolidation may also enable TMTG’s larger competitors to offer bundled or integrated products that feature alternatives to TruthSocial. Reduced functionality of TruthSocial, or TMTG’s competitors’ ability to offer bundled or integrated products that compete directly with TMTG, may cause TMTG’s user growth, user engagement and ad engagement to decline and advertisers to reduce their spend with TMTG. If TMTG is not able to compete effectively for users and advertiser spend its business and operating results would be materially and adversely affected.

Many of TMTG’s potential competitors have significantly greater resources and better competitive positions in certain markets than TMTG does. These factors may allow TMTG’s competitors to respond more effectively to new or emerging technologies and changes in market requirements. TMTG’s competitors may develop products, features, or services that are similar to TMTG’s or that achieve greater market acceptance, may undertake more far-reaching and successful product development efforts or marketing campaigns, or may adopt more aggressive pricing policies. In addition, platform partners may use information shared by TMTG’s users through TruthSocial in order to develop products or features that compete with TMTG. If TMTG is not able to effectively compete, TMTG’s user base and level of user engagement may decrease, which could make TMTG less attractive to developers and advertisers and materially and adversely affect TMTG’s revenue and results of operations.

TruthSocial exists to provide its users a true free speech platform and avoid cancellation by Big Tech. There is nothing preventing Big Tech from ceasing to cancel different voices. If that were to happen, the number of users on TMTG’s platform may decrease.

Additionally, the market for in-home filmed entertainment is intensely competitive and subject to rapid change. Many consumers maintain simultaneous relationships with multiple in-home filmed entertainment providers and can easily shift spending from one provider to another. For example, consumers may subscribe to HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, or some combination thereof, all in the same month. Competitors may be able to launch new businesses at relatively low cost. Many of the TMTG’s competitors have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, greater brand recognition and significantly greater financial, marketing, and other resources than TMTG does. Some of TMTG’s competitors have adopted, and may continue to adopt, aggressive pricing policies and devote substantially more resources to marketing and website and systems development than TMTG does. This could affect adversely TMTG’s ability to provide filmed entertainment on favorable terms, ultimately harming TMTG’s business.

Action by governments to censor content on or restrict access to TruthSocial and TMTG+ in their countries could substantially harm TMTG’s business and financial results.

It is possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on TruthSocial and TMTG+ in their country or impose other restrictions that may affect the accessibility of TruthSocial and

 

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TMTG+ in their country for an extended period of time or indefinitely. In addition, governments in other countries may seek to restrict access to TruthSocial and TMTG+ from their country entirely if they consider TMTG to be in violation of their laws. In the event that access to TruthSocial or TMTG+ is restricted, in whole or in part, in one or more countries or TMTG’s competitors are able to successfully penetrate geographic markets that TMTG cannot access, TMTG’s ability to retain or increase TMTG’s user base and user engagement may be adversely affected, TMTG may not be able to maintain or grow TMTG’s revenue as anticipated, and TMTG’s financial results could be adversely affected.

TMTG’s new products, services and initiatives and changes to existing products, services and initiatives could fail to attract sufficient users and advertisers or generate revenue.

TMTG’s ability to increase the size and engagement of TruthSocial’s user base, attract advertisers and generate revenue will depend in part on TMTG’s ability to create successful new products and services, both independently and in conjunction with third parties. TMTG may introduce significant changes to TMTG’s existing products and services or develop and introduce new and unproven products and services, including technologies with which TMTG has little or no prior development or operating experience. If new or enhanced products or services fail to engage users and advertisers, TMTG may fail to attract or retain users or to generate sufficient revenue or operating profit to justify TMTG’s investments, and TMTG’s business and operating results could be adversely affected. In the future, TMTG may invest in new products, services, and initiatives to generate revenue, but there is no guarantee these approaches will be successful. If TMTG’s strategic initiatives do not enhance TMTG’s ability to monetize TMTG’s products and services or enable it to develop new approaches to monetization, TMTG may not be able to maintain or grow TMTG’s revenue or recover any associated development costs and TMTG’s operating results could be adversely affected.

If TMTG’s efforts to build and maintain strong brand identity, improve user base for TruthSocial, and subscriber satisfaction for TMTG’s streaming services are not successful, TMTG may not be able to attract or retain users or subscribers, and TMTG’s operating results will be affected adversely. If events occur that damage TMTG’s reputation and brand, TMTG’s ability to expand TMTG’s base of users, developers and advertisers may be impaired, and TMTG’s business and financial results may be harmed.

TMTG believes that the Trump brand will significantly contribute to the success of TMTG’s business. TMTG also believes that maintaining and enhancing TMTG’s brand is critical to expanding its base of users, developers and advertisers. Maintaining and enhancing TMTG’s brand will depend largely on TMTG’s ability to continue to provide useful, reliable, trustworthy and innovative products, which TMTG may not do successfully. TMTG may introduce new products or terms of service that users do not like, which may negatively affect TMTG’s brand. Additionally, the actions of TMTG’s platform developers may affect TMTG’s brand if users do not have a positive experience using third-party apps and websites integrated with TruthSocial. TMTG’s brand may also be negatively affected by the actions of users that are hostile towards President Trump or towards other people, by users impersonating other people, by users identified as spam, by users introducing excessive amounts of spam on TMTG’s platform or by third parties obtaining control over users’ accounts. TMTG expects that in the future TMTG may experience media, legislative, or regulatory scrutiny of TMTG’s decisions regarding user privacy or other issues, which may adversely affect TMTG’s reputation and brand. TMTG also may fail to provide adequate customer service, which could erode confidence in TMTG’s platform. Maintaining and enhancing TMTG’s platform may require it to make substantial investments and these investments may not be successful. If TMTG fails to successfully promote and maintain its platform or if it incurs excessive expenses in this effort, TMTG’s business and financial results may be adversely affected.

If TMTG is unable to offset increased demand for titles with increased subscriber retention or operating margins, TMTG’s operating results may be affected adversely.

If TMTG+ does not attract and retain subscribers or TMTG does not achieve operating margins to an extent necessary to offset operating costs, TMTG’s operating results will be adversely affected. In addition, subscriber

 

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demand for titles may increase for a variety of other reasons beyond TMTG’s control, including promotion by studios and seasonal variations in movie watching. TMTG’s subscriber growth and retention may be affected adversely if TMTG attempts to increase TMTG+ monthly subscription fees to offset any increased costs of acquiring or delivering titles.

Following the Business Combination, TMTG may need additional capital, and TMTG cannot be sure that additional financing will be available.

Although TMTG currently anticipates that the proceeds from the Business Combination and the PIPE Investment, together with TMTG’s available funds and cash flow from operations, will be sufficient to meet TMTG’s cash needs for the foreseeable future, TMTG may require additional financing. TMTG’s ability to obtain financing will depend, among other things, on TMTG’s development efforts, business plans, operating performance and condition of the capital markets at the time TMTG seeks financing. TMTG cannot assure you that additional financing will be available to it on favorable terms when required, or at all. If TMTG raises additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to the rights of New Digital World common stock, and the existing stockholders may experience dilution.

Any significant disruption in service on TruthSocial or in TMTG’s information systems could result in a loss of users or subscribers.

Potential users and subscribers will access TMTG+ through TMTG’s website and related mobile applications, where the title selection process may be integrated with TMTG’s delivery processing systems and software. TMTG’s reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve TMTG’s subscribers is dependent upon the reliable performance of TMTG’s website and related apps, network infrastructure and fulfillment processes. Interruptions in these systems could make TMTG’s website unavailable and hinder TMTG’s ability to fulfill selections. Some of TMTG’s software is proprietary, and TMTG may rely on the expertise of members of TMTG’s engineering and software development teams for the continued performance of TMTG’s software and computer systems. Service interruptions or the unavailability of TMTG’s website could diminish the overall attractiveness of TMTG’s subscription service to existing and potential subscribers.

TMTG’s servers may be vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to interruptions and delays in TMTG’s service and operations and loss, misuse or theft of data. TMTG’s website may periodically experience directed attacks intended to cause a disruption in service. Any attempts by hackers to disrupt TMTG’s website service or TMTG’s internal systems, if successful, could harm TMTG’s business, be expensive to remedy and damage TMTG’s reputation. Efforts to prevent hackers from entering TMTG’s computer systems may be expensive to implement and may limit the functionality of TMTG’s services. Any significant disruption to TMTG’s website or internal computer systems could result in a loss of subscribers and adversely affect TMTG’s business and results of operations.

TMTG’s communications hardware and the computer hardware used to operate TMTG’s website will initially be hosted at the facilities of a third-party provider. Hardware for TMTG’s delivery systems is intended to be maintained in TMTG’s distribution centers. Fires, floods, earthquakes, power losses, telecommunications failures, break-ins, and similar events could damage these systems and hardware or cause them to fail completely. Problems faced by TMTG’s third-party web hosting provider, with the telecommunications network providers with whom it contracts or with the systems by which it allocates capacity among its subscribers, including us, could impact adversely the experience of TMTG’s subscribers. Any of these problems could result in a loss of subscribers.

Privacy concerns could limit TMTG’s ability to leverage TruthSocial and TMTG+ user and subscriber data.

In the ordinary case of business, and in particular, in connection with providing TMTG+ users, TMTG may collect and utilize data supplied by TMTG+ subscribers. TMTG may face certain legal obligations regarding the

 

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manner in which TMTG treats such information. Other businesses have been criticized by privacy groups and governmental bodies for attempts to link personal identities and other information to data collected on the Internet regarding users’ browsing and other habits. Increased regulation of data utilization practices, including self-regulation, as well as increased enforcement of existing laws, could have an adverse effect on TMTG’s business.

TMTG’s reputation and relationships with subscribers and credit card companies would be harmed if TMTG’s billing data were to be accessed by unauthorized persons or TMTG’s billing software fails.

To secure transmission of confidential information obtained by TMTG for billing purposes, including TMTG+ subscribers’ credit card data, TMTG intends to rely on licensed encryption and authentication technology. In conjunction with the credit card companies, TMTG intends to take measures to protect against unauthorized intrusion into TMTG+’s subscribers’ credit card and other data. If, despite these measures, TMTG experiences any unauthorized intrusion into TMTG+’s subscribers’ data, potential subscribers may become unwilling to provide the information to us necessary for them to become subscribers, and TMTG’s business could be affected adversely. Similarly, if a well-publicized breach of the consumer data security of any other major consumer website were to occur, there could be a general public loss of confidence in the use of the Internet for commerce transactions, which could adversely affect TMTG’s business.

In addition, because TMTG may obtain TMTG+ subscribers’ billing information on its website, TMTG likely may not obtain signatures from subscribers in connection with the use of credit cards by them. Under current credit card practices, to the extent TMTG does not obtain cardholders’ signatures, TMTG is liable for fraudulent credit card transactions, even where the associated financial institution approves payment of the orders. TMTG does not currently carry insurance against the risk of fraudulent credit card transactions. A failure to adequately control fraudulent credit card transactions would harm TMTG’s business and results of operations.

Any future problems with TMTG’s billing software may have an adverse effect on TMTG+’s subscriber satisfaction and may cause one or more of the major credit companies to disallow TMTG’s continued use of their payment products. In addition, if TMTG’s billing software fails and TMTG fails to bill subscribers TMTG’s cash flow and results of operations will be affected adversely.

Improper access to or disclosure of TMTG’s users’ information could harm TMTG’s reputation and adversely affect TMTG’s business.

TMTG’s efforts to protect the information that TMTG’s users have chosen to share using TruthSocial may be unsuccessful due to the actions of third parties, software bugs or other technical malfunctions, employee error or malfeasance, or other factors. In addition, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or users to disclose information in order to gain access to TMTG’s data or TMTG’s users’ data. If any of these events occur, TMTG’s users’ information could be accessed or disclosed improperly. TruthSocial’s Data Privacy Policy governs the use of information that users have chosen to share using TruthSocial. Some platform developers may store information provided by TMTG’s users through apps on the TruthSocial platform or websites integrated with TruthSocial. If these third parties or platform developers fail to adopt or adhere to adequate data security practices or fail to comply with TMTG’s terms and policies, or in the event of a breach of their networks, TMTG’s users’ data may be improperly accessed or disclosed. Any incidents involving unauthorized access to or improper use of the information of TMTG’s users could damage TMTG’s reputation and TMTG’s brand and diminish TMTG’s competitive position. In addition, the affected users or government authorities could initiate legal or regulatory action against TMTG in connection with such incidents, which could cause TMTG to incur significant expense and liability or result in orders or consent decrees forcing TMTG to modify its business practices. Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on TMTG’s business, reputation or financial results.

 

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Unfavorable media coverage could negatively affect TMTG’s business.

TMTG may receive a high degree of media coverage around the world. Unfavorable publicity regarding, for example, TMTG’s privacy practices, product changes, product quality, litigation or regulatory activity, or the actions of TMTG’s platform or streaming services developers or TMTG’s users, could adversely affect TMTG’s reputation and its ability to transact with its third-party providers. Such negative publicity also could have an adverse effect on the size, engagement, and loyalty of TMTG’s user base and result in decreased revenue, which could adversely affect TMTG’s business and financial results.

TMTG’s intellectual property may be infringed upon and others have and may continue to accuse TMTG of infringing on their intellectual property, either of which could adversely affect TMTG’s business and result in very expensive litigation.

In recent years, there has been significant litigation in the United States over patents and other intellectual property rights. Although TMTG in not engaged in such litigation, in the future TMTG or customers who use TMTG’s products may unintentionally infringe the trademarks, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties, including allegations made by TMTG’s competitors or by non-practicing entities. TMTG cannot predict whether assertions of third-party intellectual property rights or claims arising from these assertions will substantially harm TMTG’s business and operating results. If TMTG is forced to defend any infringement claims, whether they are with or without merit or are ultimately determined in TMTG’s favor, TMTG may face costly litigation and diversion of technical and management personnel. Some of TMTG’s competitors have substantially greater resources than TMTG does and are able to sustain the cost of complex intellectual property litigation to a greater extent and for longer periods of time than TMTG could. Furthermore, an adverse outcome of a dispute may require TMTG: to pay damages, potentially including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if TMTG is found to have willfully infringed a party’s patent or other intellectual property rights; to cease making, licensing or using products that are alleged to incorporate or make use of the intellectual property of others; to expend additional development resources to redesign TMTG’s products; and to enter into potentially unfavorable royalty or license agreements in order to obtain the rights to use necessary technologies. Royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to TMTG, or at all. In any event, TMTG may need to license intellectual property which would require TMTG to pay royalties or make one-time payments. Even if these matters do not result in litigation or are resolved in TMTG’s favor or without significant cash settlements, the time and resources necessary to resolve them could harm TMTG’s business, operating results, financial condition and reputation.

In addition, if TMTG’s advertising customers do not own the copyright for advertising content included in their advertisements or if digital media property owners do not own the copyright for content to the digital media next to which the advertisements appear, advertisers and digital media properties could receive complaints from copyright owners, which could harm TMTG’s reputation and TMTG’s business.

As such, litigation diverts the time and resources of management, regardless of the merits of the claim. There can be no assurance that TMTG would prevail in any future litigation relating to TMTG’s licensing agreements. If TMTG were to lose such a case and be required to cease the sale of certain products or the use of certain technology or were forced to pay monetary damages, the results could adversely affect TMTG’s business and reputation.

TMTG must comply with licenses related to the use of free, publicly-available software incorporated in TruthSocial products; failure to do so could cause the loss of the ability to use such software which could in turn adversely affect TMTG’s revenues and results of operations.

In October 2021, Software Freedom Conservancy (“SFC”) policy fellow Bradley M. Kuhn has accused TMTG of violating the licensing agreement for the free, publicly available software platform, Mastodon. Although any entity can use the code from Mastodon, according to the licensing agreement (AGPLv3), each user of the software must receive “an opportunity to receive the entire Corresponding Source for the website based on that code.” Early users of TruthSocial, Kuhn alleged, did not receive the source code.

 

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On October 26, 2021, Mastodon sent a letter requesting that the TruthSocial source code be made publicly available in compliance with the license. TMTG has since taken action to resolve this issue by publishing its source code.

TMTG operates in new and evolving industries. TMTG may not be able to respond to changes in market conditions or to new or emerging technologies.

You should take into account the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by new companies in rapidly evolving markets. TMTG’s financial results in any given quarter can be influenced by numerous factors, many of which TMTG is unable to predict or is outside of TMTG’s control, including:

 

   

TMTG’s ability to maintain and grow TMTG’s user base and user engagement;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to attract and retain advertisers in a particular period;

 

   

seasonal fluctuations in spending by TMTG’s advertisers;

 

   

the number of ads shown to users;

 

   

the pricing of TMTG’s ads and other products;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to increase payments and other fees revenue;

 

   

the diversification and growth of revenue sources beyond advertising and payments;

 

   

the development and introduction of new products or services by us or TMTG’s competitors;

 

   

increases in marketing, sales, and other operating expenses that TMTG may incur to grow and expand TMTG’s operations and to remain competitive;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to maintain gross margins and operating margins;

 

   

TMTG’s ability to obtain equipment and components for TMTG’s data centers and other technical infrastructure in a timely and cost-effective manner;

 

   

system failures or breaches of security or privacy;

 

   

inaccessibility of TruthSocial due to third-party actions;

 

   

adverse litigation judgments, settlements, or other litigation-related costs;

 

   

changes in the legislative or regulatory environment, including with respect to privacy, or enforcement by government regulators, including fines, orders, or consent decrees;

 

   

fluctuations in currency exchange rates and changes in the proportion of TMTG’s revenue and expenses denominated in foreign currencies;

 

   

fluctuations in the market values of TMTG’s portfolio investments and in interest rates;

 

   

changes in U.S. GAAP; and

 

   

changes in business or macroeconomic conditions.

TMTG’s business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to TMTG’s business practices, increased cost of operations, or declines in user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm TMTG’s business.

TMTG is subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and abroad that involve matters central to TMTG’s business, including user privacy, rights of publicity, data protection, content, intellectual property, distribution, electronic contracts and other communications, competition, protection of minors,

 

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consumer protection, taxation, and online payment services. Foreign data protection, privacy, and other laws and regulations are often more restrictive than those in the United States. These U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. In addition, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which TMTG operates. For example, the interpretation of some laws and regulations that govern the use of names and likenesses in connection with advertising and marketing activities is unsettled and developments in this area could affect the manner in which TMTG designs TMTG’s products, as well as TMTG’s terms of use. A number of proposals are pending before federal, state, and foreign legislative and regulatory bodies that could significantly affect TMTG’s business. For example, a revision to the 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive is currently being considered by European legislative bodies that may include more stringent operational requirements for data processors and significant penalties for non-compliance. Similarly, there have been a number of recent legislative proposals in the United States, at both the federal and state level, that would impose new obligations in areas such as privacy and liability for copyright infringement by third parties. These existing and proposed laws and regulations can be costly to comply with and can delay or impede the development of new products, result in negative publicity, increase TMTG’s operating costs, require significant management time and attention, and subject us to claims or other remedies, including fines or demands that TMTG modify or cease existing business practices.

If TMTG’s security measures are breached, or if TMTG’s products and services are subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of users to access TMTG’s products and services, TMTG’s products and services may be perceived as not being secure, users and advertisers may curtail or stop using TMTG’s products and services and TMTG’s business and operating results could be harmed.

TMTG’s products and services involve the storage and transmission of users’ and advertisers’ information, and security breaches expose it to a risk of loss of this information, litigation and potential liability. TMTG may experience cyber-attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis, and as a result, unauthorized parties may obtain access to TMTG’s data or TMTG’s users’ or advertisers’ data. TMTG’s security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance or otherwise. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, users or advertisers to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to TMTG’s data or TMTG’s users’ or advertisers’ data or accounts, or may otherwise obtain access to such data or accounts. Since TMTG’s users and advertisers may use their TruthSocial accounts to establish and maintain online identities, unauthorized communications from TruthSocial accounts that have been compromised may damage their reputations and brands as well as TMTG’s. Any such breach or unauthorized access could result in significant legal and financial exposure, damage to TMTG’s reputation and a loss of confidence in the security of TMTG’s products and services that could have an adverse effect on TMTG’s business and operating results. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable, or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, TMTG may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. If an actual or perceived breach of TMTG’s security occurs, the market perception of the effectiveness of TMTG’s security measures could be harmed, TMTG could lose users and advertisers and TMTG may incur significant legal and financial exposure, including legal claims and regulatory fines and penalties. Any of these actions could have a material and adverse effect on TMTG’s business, reputation, and operating results.

TMTG may face lawsuits or incur liability as a result of content published on TruthSocial and TMTG+.

TMTG may face claims relating to content that is published or made available through TMTG’s products and services or third-party products or services. In particular, the nature of TMTG’s business exposes it to claims related to defamation, intellectual property rights, rights of publicity and privacy, illegal content, content regulation and personal injury torts. The law relating to the liability of providers of online products or services for activities of their users remains somewhat unsettled, both within the United States and internationally. This risk may be enhanced in certain jurisdictions outside the United States where TMTG may be less protected under local laws than TMTG is in the United States. In addition, the public nature of communications on TMTG’s

 

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network exposes it to risks arising from the creation of impersonation accounts intended to be attributed to TMTG’s users or advertisers. TMTG could incur significant costs investigating and defending these claims. If TMTG incurs costs or liability as a result of these events occurring, TMTG’s business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

Many of TMTG’s products and services rely on, incorporate, and/or license open source software, which may pose particular risks to TMTG’s proprietary software, products, and services in a manner that could have a negative effect on TMTG’s business.

TMTG uses and plans to continue using open-source software in its products and services. For example, TruthSocial was built using an AGPLv3 license (also referred to “copyleft” or a “viral license”). In addition, TMTG may contribute software source code to existing open-source projects, such as Mastodon, pursuant to applicable licenses or release internal software projects under open-source licenses and anticipate doing so in the future. The terms of many licenses to which TMTG is or is likely to become subject to have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts, and there is a risk that open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on TMTG’s ability to provide or distribute TMTG’s products or services. Additionally, TMTG may from time-to-time face claims from third parties claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the open source software or derivative works that TMTG developed using such software, (which could include TMTG’s proprietary source code), or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of an applicable license in a manner adverse to TMTG’s interests. These claims could result in litigation and could require TMTG to make its software source code freely available, purchase a costly license or cease offering the implicated products or services unless and until TMTG can re-engineer them to avoid infringement. TMTG is proactively working to mitigate these risks by developing technical solutions to these potential challenges. However, this re-engineering process could require significant additional research and development resources, and TMTG may not be able to complete it successfully. In addition to risks related to license requirements, use of certain open-source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of software. Additionally, because any software source code TMTG contributes to open-source projects is publicly available, TMTG’s ability to protect TMTG’s intellectual property rights with respect to such software source code may be limited or lost entirely, and TMTG is unable to prevent TMTG’s competitors or others from using such contributed software source code. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have a negative effect on TMTG’s business, financial condition, and operating results.

TMTG may rely in part on application marketplaces and Internet search engines to drive traffic to TMTG’s products and services, and if TMTG fails to appear high up in the search results or rankings, traffic to TruthSocial could decline and TMTG’s business and operating results could be adversely affected.

Although TMTG has released a web application for TruthSocial, TMTG may rely on application marketplaces, such as Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play, to drive downloads of TMTG’s mobile application. In the future, Apple, Google, or other operators of application marketplaces may make changes to their marketplaces which make access to TMTG’s products and services more difficult or impossible. Additionally, third parties may attempt to pressure Apple and Google to remove TruthSocial from their application marketplaces, and such removal may constitute a force majeure event under the operative version of TMTG’s License Agreement with President Trump.

TMTG may also depend in part on Internet search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, to drive traffic to TruthSocial. For example, when a user types an inquiry into a search engine, TMTG may rely on a high organic search result ranking of TMTG’s web pages in these search results to refer the user to TruthSocial. However, TMTG’s ability to maintain high organic search result rankings is not within TMTG’s control. TMTG’s competitors’ search engine optimization (“SEO”) efforts may result in their websites receiving a higher search result page ranking than TMTG’s, or Internet search engines could revise their methodologies in a way that would adversely affect TMTG’s search result rankings. For example, Google has integrated its social

 

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networking offerings, including Google+, with certain of its products, including search, which could negatively impact the organic search ranking of TMTG’s web pages. If Internet search engines modify their search algorithms in ways that are detrimental to us, or if TMTG’s competitors’ SEO efforts are more successful than TMTG’s, the growth in TruthSocial’s user base could slow. TMTG anticipates fluctuations in search result rankings in the future. Any reduction in the number of users directed to TMTG’s mobile applications or website through application marketplaces and search engines could harm TMTG’s business and operating results.

More people are using devices other than personal computers to access the Internet and new platforms to produce and consume content, and TMTG needs to promote the adoption of TMTG’s mobile applications, and TMTG’s business and operating results may be harmed if TMTG is unable to do so.

The number of people who access the Internet through devices other than personal computers, including mobile phones, smartphones, handheld computers such as net books and tablets, video game consoles and television set-top devices, has increased dramatically in the past few years. There are 7.26 billion smart and feature phone users worldwide, including 6.65 billion smartphone users worldwide in 2022. Since TMTG may generate a majority of TMTG’s advertising revenue through users on mobile devices, TMTG must continue to drive adoption of TMTG’s mobile applications. In addition, mobile users frequently change or upgrade their mobile devices. TMTG’s business and operating results may be harmed if TMTG’s users do not install TruthSocial application when they change or upgrade their mobile device. In addition, as new devices and platforms are continually being released, users may consume content in a manner that is more difficult to monetize. It is difficult to predict the problems TMTG may encounter in adapting TMTG’s products and services and developing competitive new products and services that are compatible with new devices or platforms. If TMTG is unable to develop products and services that are compatible with new devices and platforms, or if TMTG is unable to drive continued adoption of TMTG’s mobile applications, TMTG’s business and operating results may be harmed.

If TMTG fails to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting, TMTG’s ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.

As a public company, the Combined Entity will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the listing standards of Nasdaq. TMTG expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase TMTG’s legal, accounting, and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time consuming and costly, and place significant strain on TMTG’s personnel, systems, and resources.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that TMTG maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. TMTG intends to develop and refine TMTG’s disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by TMTG in the reports that TMTG will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to TMTG’s principal executive and financial officers. TMTG intends to improve TMTG’s internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of TMTG’s disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, TMTG anticipates that TMTG will continue to expend significant resources, including accounting-related costs and significant management oversight.

TMTG’s controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in TMTG’s business. Further, weaknesses in TMTG’s disclosure controls or TMTG’s internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm TMTG’s operating results or cause us to fail to meet TMTG’s reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of TMTG’s financial statements for prior periods. Any

 

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failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of management evaluations and independent registered public accounting firm audits of TMTG’s internal control over financial reporting that TMTG will eventually be required to include in TMTG’s periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in TMTG, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of TMTG’s common stock. In addition, if TMTG is unable to continue to meet these requirements, TMTG may not be able to remain listed on Nasdaq.

Upon becoming a public company, the Combined Entity will be required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting commencing with its annual report on Form 10-K. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on TMTG’s business and operating results and cause a decline in the price of the Combined Entity’s common stock.

If currency exchange rates fluctuate substantially in the future, TMTG’s operating results, which are reported in U.S. dollars, could be adversely affected.

TMTG intends to expand international operations. As a result, TMTG will become more exposed to the effects of fluctuations in currency exchange rates. TMTG may incur expenses for employee compensation and other operating expenses at TMTG’s international locations in the local currency and accept payment from advertisers or data partners in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Since TMTG may conduct business in currencies other than U.S. dollars but report TMTG’s operating results in U.S. dollars, TMTG face exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Consequently, exchange rate fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and other currencies could have a material impact on TMTG’s operating results.

TMTG’s business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fire, power outages, floods, and other catastrophic events, and to interruption by man-made problems such as terrorism.

A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire, flood, or significant power outage could have a material adverse impact on TMTG’s business, operating results, and financial condition. TMTG does not carry business interruption insurance sufficient to compensate us for the potentially significant losses, including the potential harm to TMTG’s business that may result from interruptions in TMTG’s ability to provide TMTG’s products and services.

If TMTG’s trademarks and other proprietary rights are not adequately protected to prevent use or appropriation by TMTG’s competitors, the value of TMTG’s brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and TMTG’s business may be adversely affected. If TMTG is unable to protect TMTG’s intellectual property, or to successfully register the pending “Truth Social” trademark with the USPTO, the value of TMTG’s brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and TMTG’s business may be adversely affected.

TMTG intends to rely on a combination of confidentiality and license agreements with TMTG’s employees, consultants, and third parties with whom TMTG develops relationships, as well as trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, and domain name protection laws, to protect TMTG’s proprietary rights. TMTG has filed various applications for protection of certain aspects of TMTG’s intellectual property. However, third parties may knowingly or unknowingly infringe TMTG’s proprietary rights, third parties may challenge any proprietary rights held by TMTG, and pending and future trademark and patent applications may not be approved.

In February 2022, the USPTO received a Letter of Protest from Vero Labs, Inc., owner of U.S. registrations for the trademark, “VERO – TRUE SOCIAL,” in connection with the pending U.S. trademark application for “TRUTH SOCIAL.” On April 5, 2022, the USPTO issued an office Action with respect to the pending U.S. trademark application for “TRUTH SOCIAL” citing the “VERO – TRUE SOCIAL” registrations against the pending application. TMTG intends to respond to the USPTO’s Office Action with arguments in favor of

 

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registration of the “TRUTH SOCIAL” trademark. There is no guarantee that the USPTO will accept the arguments presented and agree to register the “TRUTH SOCIAL” Trademark. In the event we are unable to successfully register the pending “TRUTH SOCIAL” trademark, we may seek to change the name of our social media platform or reach an accommodation of the “VERO – TRUE SOCIAL” trademark to permit us to use “TRUTH SOCIAL.” In addition, effective intellectual property protection may not be available in every country in which TMTG operates or intends to operate TMTG’s business. In any or all of these cases, TMTG may be required to expend significant time and expense in order to prevent infringement or to enforce TMTG’s rights. Although TMTG intends to take measures to protect TMTG’s proprietary rights, there can be no assurance that others will not offer products or concepts that are substantially similar to TMTG’s and compete with TMTG’s business. In addition, TMTG may contribute software source code under open source licenses and may make other technology developed by it available under other open licenses, and TMTG may include open source software in TMTG’s products. As a result of any future TMTG’s open source contributions and the use of open source in TMTG’s products, TMTG may license or be required to license innovations that turn out to be material to TMTG’s business and may also be exposed to increased litigation risk. If the protection of TMTG’s proprietary rights is inadequate to prevent unauthorized use or appropriation by third parties, the value of TMTG’s brand and other intangible assets may be diminished and competitors may be able to more effectively mimic TMTG’s service and methods of operations. Any of these events could have an adverse effect on TMTG’s business and financial results.

Trademark, copyright, patent, and other intellectual property rights are important to TMTG and other companies. TMTG’s intellectual property rights extend to TMTG’s technology, business processes and the content on TMTG’s website. TMTG intends to use the intellectual property of third parties in merchandising TMTG’s products and marketing TMTG’s service through contractual and other rights. If there is any claim against TMTG for infringement, misappropriation, misuse or other violation of third party intellectual property rights, and TMTG is unable to obtain sufficient rights or develop non-infringing intellectual property or otherwise alter TMTG’s business practices, as appropriate, on a timely basis, TMTG’s business and competitive position may be affected adversely. Many companies are devoting significant resources to developing patents that could potentially affect many aspects of TMTG’s business. There are numerous patents that broadly claim means and methods of conducting business on the Internet. TMTG has not exhaustively searched patents relative to TMTG’s technology. TMTG may be accused of infringing certain of these patents. In addition, other parties may assert infringement or unfair competition, or other intellectual property claims against TMTG that could relate to any aspect of TMTG’s technology, business processes, merchandizing, and marketing activities or TMTG’s intellectual property rights. TMTG cannot predict whether third parties will assert claims of infringement against it, the subject matter of any of these claims or whether these assertions or prosecutions will adversely affect TMTG’s business. If TMTG is forced to defend itself against any of these claims, whether they are with or without merit or are determined in TMTG’s favor, TMTG may face costly litigation, diversion of technical and management personnel, inability to use TMTG’s current website technology or inability to market TMTG’s service or merchandise TMTG’s products. As a result of a dispute, TMTG may have to develop non-infringing technology, enter into royalty or licensing agreements adjust TMTG’s merchandizing or marketing activities or take other action to resolve the claims. These actions, if required, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, costly or unavailable.

If TMTG is unable to protect TMTG’s domain names, TMTG’s reputation and brand could be affected adversely.

TMTG may hold various domain names relating to TMTG’s brand, including TMTGcorp.com and TruthSocial.com. Failure to protect TMTG’s domain names could affect adversely TMTG’s reputation and brand and make it more difficult for users to find TMTG’s website and TMTG’s service. The acquisition and maintenance of domain names generally are regulated by governmental agencies and their designees. The regulation of domain names in the United States may change in the near future. Governing bodies may establish additional top-level domains, appoint additional domain name registrars, or modify the requirements for holding domain names. As a result, TMTG may be unable to acquire or maintain relevant domain names. Furthermore,

 

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the relationship between regulations governing domain names and laws protecting trademarks and similar proprietary rights is unclear. TMTG may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to, infringe upon, or otherwise decrease the value of TMTG’s trademarks and other proprietary rights.

In the future, TMTG may be involved in numerous class action lawsuits and other litigation matters that are expensive and time consuming, and, if resolved adversely, could harm TMTG’s business, financial condition or results of operations.

In addition to intellectual property and licensing claims, TMTG may also be involved in numerous other lawsuits, including putative class action lawsuits brought by users and advertisers, many of which claim statutory damages. In fact, TMTG anticipates that TMTG will continue to be a target for numerous lawsuits in the future. If TMTG is able to build an expansive user base, the plaintiffs in class action cases filed against TMTG typically will claim enormous monetary damages even if the alleged per-user harm is small or non-existent. Any litigation to which TMTG may in the future be a party may result in an onerous or unfavorable judgment that may not be reversed upon appeal, or TMTG may decide to settle lawsuits on similarly unfavorable terms. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial monetary damages or fines, or changes to TMTG’s products or business practices, and accordingly TMTG’s business, financial condition, or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. However, defending any future claims may be costly and can impose a significant burden on management and employees, and TMTG may receive unfavorable preliminary or interim rulings in the course of litigation, which could adversely affect the market price of the Combined Entity’s common stock. There can be no assurances that a favorable final outcome will be obtained in any cases in the future.

President Trump has significant influence over key decision making as a result of his control of a significant portion of TMTG’s voting stock.

President Trump, TMTG’s Chairman, will be able to exercise voting rights with respect to an aggregate of approximately 73.3 million shares of common stock, representing approximately 57.1% of the voting power of the outstanding common stock following the Business Combination assuming no redemptions and no conversion of the Preferred Stock, or approximately 46.3% of the voting power of the common stock assuming full conversion of the Preferred Stock at the initial conversion price. As a result, President Trump will have the ability to significantly influence the outcome of matters submitted to the Combined Entity’s stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of the Combined Entity’s assets. In addition, President Trump will have the ability to significantly influence the management and affairs of the Combined Entity as a result of his position as its Chairman and the ability to control the election of the Combined Entity’s directors. Additionally, in the event that President Trump controls the Combined Entity at the time of his death, control may be transferred to a person or entity that he designates as his successor. As a board member, President Trump will owe a fiduciary duty to the Combined Entity’s stockholders and must act in good faith in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the Combined Entity’s stockholders. As a stockholder, even a controlling stockholder, President Trump is entitled to vote his shares in his own interests, which may not always be in the interests of the Combined Entity’s stockholders generally.

TMTG cannot be certain that additional financing will be available on reasonable terms when required, or at all.

From time to time, TMTG may need additional financing. TMTG’s ability to obtain additional financing, if and when required, will depend on investor demand, TMTG’s operating performance, the condition of the capital markets, and other factors. If TMTG raises additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to the rights of the Combined Entity’s common stock, and TMTG’s existing stockholders may experience dilution.

 

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TMTG’s costs may grow more quickly than TMTG’s revenue, harming TMTG’s business and profitability.

TMTG expects its expenses to continue to increase in the future as it broadens its user base, as users increase the number of connections and amount of data they share with us, as TMTG develops and implement new product features that require more computing infrastructure, and as TMTG hires additional employees. TMTG expects to incur increasing costs, in particular for servers, storage, power, and data centers, to support TMTG’s anticipated future growth. TMTG expects to continue to invest in TMTG’s infrastructure in order to provide TMTG’s products rapidly and reliably to all users around the world, including in countries where TMTG does not expect significant short-term monetization. TMTG’s expenses may be greater than TMTG anticipates, and TMTG’s investments to make TMTG’s business and TMTG’s technical infrastructure more efficient may not be successful. In addition, TMTG may increase marketing, sales, and other operating expenses in order to grow and expand TMTG’s operations and to remain competitive. Increases in TMTG’s costs may adversely affect TMTG’s business and profitability.

TMTG’s business is dependent on its ability to maintain and scale TMTG’s technical infrastructure, and any significant disruption in TMTG’s service could damage TMTG’s reputation, result in a potential loss of users and engagement, and adversely affect TMTG’s financial results.

TMTG’s reputation and ability to attract, retain, and serve TMTG’s users is dependent upon the reliable performance of TruthSocial and TMTG+ and TMTG’s underlying technical infrastructure. TMTG’s systems may not be adequately designed with the necessary reliability and redundancy to avoid performance delays or outages or service disruptions that could be harmful to TMTG’s business. If TruthSocial and TMTG+ is unavailable when users attempt to access it, or if it does not load as quickly as they expect, users may not return to TMTG’s website as often in the future, or at all. As TMTG’s user base and the amount and types of information shared on TruthSocial and TMTG+ continue to grow, TMTG will need an increasing amount of technical infrastructure, including network capacity, and computing power, to continue to satisfy the needs of TMTG’s users. It is possible that TMTG may fail to effectively scale and grow TMTG’s technical infrastructure to accommodate these increased demands. In addition, as stated above, TMTG’s business is subject to interruptions, delays, or failures resulting from earthquakes, other natural disasters, terrorism, or other catastrophic events.

A substantial portion of TMTG’s network infrastructure will be provided by third parties. Any disruption or failure in the services TMTG receives from these providers could harm TMTG’s ability to handle new or increased traffic and could significantly harm TMTG’s business. Any financial or other difficulties these providers face may adversely affect TMTG’s business, and TMTG exercise little control over these providers, which increases TMTG’s vulnerability to problems with the services they provide.

TMTG’s software is highly technical, and if it contains undetected errors, TMTG’s business could be adversely affected. TMTG’s business and operating results may be harmed by a disruption in TMTG’s service, or by TMTG’s failure to timely and effectively scale and adapt TMTG’s existing technology and infrastructure.

One of the reasons people will come to TruthSocial is for real-time information. TMTG in the future may experience service disruptions, outages, and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, hardware failure, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of people accessing TMTG’s products and services simultaneously, computer viruses and denial of service or fraud or security attacks. Although TMTG will invest significantly to improve the capacity, capability, and reliability of TMTG’s infrastructure, TMTG cannot guarantee that TMTG will serve all traffic equally through data centers that support TMTG’s platform. Accordingly, in the event of a significant issue at a data center supporting significant network traffic, some of TMTG’s products and services may become inaccessible to the public or the public may experience difficulties accessing TMTG’s products and services. Any disruption or failure in TMTG’s infrastructure could hinder TMTG’s ability to handle existing or increased traffic on TMTG’s platform, which could significantly harm TMTG’s business.

 

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As the number of TMTG’s users increases and TMTG’s users generate more content, including photos and videos hosted by TruthSocial, TMTG may be required to expand and adapt TMTG’s technology and infrastructure to continue to reliably store, serve and analyze this content. It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve the performance of TMTG’s products and services, especially during peak usage times, as TMTG’s products and services become more complex and TMTG’s user traffic increases. In addition, because TMTG may lease TMTG’s data center facilities, TMTG cannot be assured that TMTG will be able to expand TMTG’s data center infrastructure to meet user demand in a timely manner, or on favorable economic terms. If TMTG users are unable to access TruthSocial or TMTG+ or TMTG is not able to make information available rapidly on TruthSocial, users may seek other channels to obtain the information, and may not return to TruthSocial or use TruthSocial as often in the future, or at all. This would negatively impact TMTG’s ability to attract users and advertisers and increase engagement of TMTG’s users. TMTG expects to continue to make significant investments to maintain and improve the capacity, capability, and reliability of TMTG’s infrastructure. To the extent that TMTG does not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade TMTG’s systems as needed and continually develop TMTG’s technology and infrastructure to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, TMTG’s business and operating results may be harmed.

TMTG’s products may incorporate software that is highly technical and complex. TMTG’s software may now or in the future contain, undetected errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities. Some errors in TMTG’s software code may only be discovered after the code has been released. Any errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities discovered in TMTG’s code after release could result in damage to TMTG’s reputation, loss of users, loss of revenue, or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect TMTG’s business and financial results.

TMTG cannot assure you that TMTG will effectively manage TMTG’s growth. If TMTG fails to effectively manage its growth, TMTG’s business and operating results could be harmed.

TMTG may experience rapid growth in TMTG’s headcount and operations, which will place significant demands on TMTG’s management and operational and financial infrastructure. TMTG intends to make substantial investments to expand TMTG’s operations, research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative organizations, as well as TMTG’s international operations. TMTG may face significant competition for employees, particularly engineers, designers and product managers, from other Internet and high-growth companies, which include both publicly-traded and privately-held companies, and TMTG may not be able to hire new employees quickly enough to meet TMTG’s needs. To attract highly skilled personnel, TMTG believes it will need to offer highly competitive compensation packages. As TMTG continues to grow, TMTG may be subject to the risks of over-hiring, over-compensating TMTG’s employees and over-expanding TMTG’s operating infrastructure, and to the challenges of integrating, developing, and motivating a rapidly growing employee base in various countries around the world. In addition, TMTG may not be able to innovate or execute as quickly as a smaller, more efficient organization. If TMTG fails to effectively manage TMTG’s hiring needs and successfully integrate TMTG’s new hires, TMTG’s efficiency and ability to meet TMTG’s forecasts and TMTG’s employee morale, productivity and retention could suffer, and TMTG’s business and operating results could be adversely affected.

The growth and expansion of TMTG’s business and products create significant challenges for TMTG’s management, operational, and financial resources, including managing multiple relations with users, advertisers, platform developers, and other third parties. In the event of continued growth of TMTG’s operations or in the number of TMTG’s third-party relationships, TMTG’s information technology systems or TMTG’s internal controls and procedures may not be adequate to support TMTG’s operations. In addition, some members of TMTG’s management do not have significant experience managing a large global business operation, so TMTG’s management may not be able to manage such growth effectively. To effectively manage TMTG’s growth, TMTG must continue to improve TMTG’s operational, financial, and management processes and systems and to effectively expand, train, and manage TMTG’s employee base. As TMTG’s organization continues to grow, and TMTG is required to implement more complex organizational management structures, TMTG may find it increasingly difficult to maintain the benefits of TMTG’s corporate culture, including

 

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TMTG’s ability to quickly develop and launch new and innovative products. This could negatively affect TMTG’s business performance.

Computer malware, viruses, hacking, and phishing attacks, and spamming could harm TMTG’s business and results of operations. Spam could diminish the user experience on TMTG’s platform, which could damage TMTG’s reputation and deter TMTG’s current and potential users from using TMTG’s products and services.

Computer malware, viruses, hacking, and phishing attacks have become more prevalent in TMTG’s industry and may occur on TMTG’s systems in the future. Because of TMTG’s prominence, TMTG believes that TMTG is particularly attractive target for such attacks. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security, and availability of TMTG’s products and technical infrastructure to the satisfaction of TMTG’s users may harm TMTG’s reputation and TMTG’s ability to retain existing users and attract new users.

“Spam” on TruthSocial refers to a range of abusive activities that are prohibited by TMTG’s terms of service and is generally defined as unsolicited, repeated actions that negatively impact other users with the general goal of drawing user attention to a given account, site, product or idea. This includes posting large numbers of unsolicited mentions of a user, duplicating Truths, misleading links (e.g., to malware or click-jacking pages) or other false or misleading content, and aggressively following and un-following accounts, adding users to lists, sending invitations, retruthing and favoriting Truths to inappropriately attract attention. TMTG’s terms of service also prohibit the creation of serial or bulk accounts, using automation, for disruptive or abusive purposes, such as to truth spam or to artificially inflate the popularity of users seeking to promote themselves on TruthSocial. Although TMTG will continue to invest resources to reduce spam on TruthSocial, TMTG expects spammers will continue to seek ways to act inappropriately on TMTG’s platform. In addition, TMTG expects that increases in the number of users on TMTG’s platform will result in increased efforts by spammers to misuse TMTG’s platform. TMTG cannot guarantee you that TMTG will successfully continuously combat spam, including by suspending or terminating accounts TMTG believes to be spammers and launching algorithmic changes focused on curbing abusive activities. TMTG’s actions to combat spam require the diversion of significant time and focus of TMTG’s engineering team from improving TMTG’s products and services. If spam increases on TruthSocial, this could hurt TMTG’s reputation for delivering relevant content or reduce user growth and user engagement and result in continuing operational cost to us.

In addition, spammers attempt to use TMTG’s products to send targeted and untargeted spam messages to users, which may embarrass or annoy users and make TruthSocial less user-friendly. TMTG cannot be certain that the technologies and employees tasked with defeating spamming attacks will be able to eliminate all spam messages from being sent on TMTG’s platform. As a result of spamming activities, TMTG’s users may use TruthSocial less or stop using TMTG’s products altogether.

Misleading solicitations and digital ads that are unaffiliated with TMTG could harm TMTG’s credibility or reputation.

People may solicit customers to TruthSocial, or purport to solicit customers to TruthSocial, without TMTG’s knowledge and may even get paid in the process. The fundraising committee of a U.S. Senator’s campaign has sent several email solicitations which claim to be an exclusive opportunity to sign up for a “brand-new social site” launched by President Trump. The email solicitations specifically urge its recipients to join TruthSocial with the following message, “please don’t be the reason Trump’s social site fails.” This could adversely impact TMTG user base who may find these misleading solicitations undesirable. It is possible that there are or will be more misleading advertisements or solicitations claiming affiliation with TMTG. If these misleading solicitations and ads damage the reputation of TMTG or the desire of people to use TruthSocial, TMTG’s results of operations may be adversely affected.

 

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TMTG plans to expand its operations abroad where TMTG has limited operating experience and may be subject to increased business and economic risks that could affect TMTG’s financial results.

TMTG plans to expand TMTG’s business operations by offering TMTG’s products around the globe. TMTG may enter new international markets where TMTG has limited or no experience in marketing, selling, and deploying TMTG’s products. If TMTG fails to deploy or manage its operations in international markets successfully, its business may suffer. In addition, TMTG is subject to a variety of risks inherent in doing business internationally, including:

 

   

political, social, or economic instability;

 

   

risks related to the legal and regulatory environment in foreign jurisdictions, including with respect to privacy, and unexpected changes in laws, regulatory requirements, and enforcement;

 

   

potential damage to TMTG’s brand and reputation due to compliance with local laws, including potential censorship or requirements to provide user information to local authorities;

 

   

fluctuations in currency exchange rates;

 

   

higher levels of credit risk and payment fraud;

 

   

enhanced difficulties of integrating any foreign acquisitions;

 

   

burdens of complying with a variety of foreign laws;

 

   

reduced protection for intellectual property rights in some countries;

 

   

difficulties in staffing and managing global operations and the increased travel, infrastructure, and legal compliance costs associated with multiple international locations;

 

   

compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act, and similar laws in other jurisdictions; and

 

   

compliance with statutory equity requirements and management of tax consequences.

If TMTG is unable to manage the complexity of its global operations successfully, its financial results could be adversely affected.

TMTG plans to make acquisitions which could require significant management attention, disrupt its business, result in dilution to its stockholders, and adversely affect its financial results.

As part of its business strategy, TMTG intends to make acquisitions to add specialized employees, complementary companies, products, or technologies. However, TMTG has not made any such strategic acquisitions to date. As a result, its ability to successfully acquire and integrate larger or more significant companies, products, or technologies is unproven. In the future, TMTG may not be able to find other suitable acquisition candidates, and TMTG may not be able to complete acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. TMTG’s future acquisitions may not achieve its goals, and any future acquisitions that TMTG completes could be viewed negatively by users, developers, advertisers, or investors. In addition, if TMTG fails to successfully integrate any acquisitions, or the technologies associated with such acquisitions, into TruthSocial, TMTG+ or any future product offerings, the revenue and operating results of the Combined Entity could be adversely affected. Any integration process may require significant time and resources, and TMTG may not be able to manage the process successfully. TMTG may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology or personnel, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction, including accounting charges. TMTG may have to pay cash, incur debt, or issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition, any of which could adversely affect TMTG’s financial results. The sale of equity or issuance of debt to finance any such acquisitions could result in dilution to TMTG’s stockholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed obligations and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impede TMTG’s ability to manage TMTG’s operations.

 

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Risks Related to our Chairman President Donald J. Trump

TMTG’s success depends in part on the popularity of its brand and the reputation and popularity of its Chairman, President Donald J. Trump. The value of TMTG’s brand may diminish if the popularity of President Trump were to suffer. Adverse reactions to publicity relating to President Trump, or the loss of his services, could adversely affect TMTG’s revenues, results of operations and its ability to maintain or generate a consumer base.

While TMTG believes there is sufficient demand for a true free speech platform, the image, reputation, popularity and talent of its Chairman, President Trump will be important factors to its success. According to The Hill, only 30% of people surveyed would use a social media site associated with President Trump. In addition, according to a survey published in The New York Post, only 60% of Republicans would use such a platform. In order to be successful, TMTG will need millions of those people to register and regularly use TMTG’s platform. If President Trump becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility or the desire of people to use a platform associated with him, and from which he will derive financial benefit, TMTG’s results of operations could be adversely affected.

The death or incapacity of President Trump, or discontinuation or limitation of his relationship with TMTG, may negatively impact TMTG’s business.

TMTG is highly dependent on the popularity and presence of President Trump, its Chairman and largest stockholder. President Trump has a significant influence on TMTG’s business plan. TMTG believes President Trump’s reputation and relationships are a critical element to the success of TMTG’s business. TMTG’s future success will depend, to a significant extent, upon the continued presence and popularity of President Trump. If President Trump were to discontinue his relationship with TMTG due to death, disability, or any other reason, or limit his involvement with TMTG due to becoming a candidate for political office, TMTG would be significantly disadvantaged.

President Trump is involved in numerous lawsuits and other matters that could damage his reputation, cause him to be distracted from the business or could force him to resign from TMTG’s board of directors. Additionally, TMTG’s business plan relies on President Trump bringing his former social media followers to its platform. In the event any of these, or other events cause his followers to lose interest in his messages, the number of users of TMTG’s platform could decline or not grow as TMTG has assumed.

A congressional committee is investigating President Trump’s role, if any, in violence at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Two groups of U.S. Capitol Police officers, in two separate lawsuits, have sued President Trump for allegedly inciting riots on that date. U.S. Representatives Bennie Thompson and Eric Swalwell have, separately, also sued President Trump for allegedly inciting riots at the Capitol—and Rep. Swalwell has further claimed emotional distress.

There is also ongoing litigation involving President Trump related to the 2020 election. For example, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund filed a lawsuit against President Trump alleging that he violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Enforcement Act of 1871 by exerting pressure on state and local officials not to count or certify votes. In February 2021, the Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney’s office launched a criminal probe into President Trump’s alleged interference in the presidential election. In January 2022, the Fulton County District Attorney’s request to impanel a special grand jury – the members of which were selected in early May 2022 for a criminal investigation into President Trump was approved by the Fulton County Superior Court. A Pennsylvania poll worker sued President Trump for damages caused by alleged defamatory statements made by President Trump following the 2020 election. Eric Coomer, a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems, sued President Trump for alleged defamatory statements made by President Trump during the 2020 election.

Among other matters, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform is investigating President Trump’s alleged destruction and removal of classified documents and White House

 

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records, as well as potential inaccurate financial statements filed by the Trump Organization in relation to the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. President Trump is the subject of separate investigations by the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney, the New York Attorney General, and the Westchester County District Attorney to determine if the Trump Organization made false valuations of property to avoid tax liability and for other financial benefits. On April 25, 2022, a New York state court judge held President Trump in civil contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents related to the New York Attorney General’s investigation of the Trump Organization. President Trump, along with his three eldest children (including Donald Trump, Jr., a TMTG board Member), are defendants in a class action lawsuit accusing them and The Trump Corporation of defrauding investors in exchange for secret payments from multiple companies. The Trump Organization recently paid $750,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the District of Columbia accusing the organization of misusing nonprofit funds from the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee.

A group of six protesters filed a lawsuit against President Trump alleging that President Trump and his co-defendants are liable for assault and battery after the protesters were attacked by Trump Tower security guards. President Trump is the defendant in a class action lawsuit filed by tenants of buildings once owned by the Trump family accusing them of fraud and racketeering. President Trump is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, seeking damages for alleged retaliatory imprisonment. The House Ways and Means Committee remains engaged in a years long attempt to obtain President Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department as part of an investigation into the IRS’s oversight of presidential tax returns.

President Trump is the defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll who claims that President Trump defamed her when he denied her allegations of sexual assault against him. In the past, President Trump has been involved in multiple lawsuits and settlements—and the subject of numerous accusations that did not result in legal action—related to sexual conduct and alleged misconduct.

As a plaintiff, President Trump sued NY AG Letitia James to stop the investigation into the Trump Organization. President Trump sued New York City over its decision to cancel the Trump Organization’s contract to operate a golf course in the Bronx. President Trump sued Mary Trump and the New York Times for their disclosure and publication of his tax information. President Trump sued Twitter, for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights by banning him from its social media platform; this lawsuit was dismissed in May 2022.

The foregoing does not purport to be an exhaustive list. In June 2016, USA Today published an analysis of litigation involving President Trump, which found that over the previous three decades President Trump and his businesses had been involved in 3,500 legal cases in U.S. federal and state courts. Of the 3,500 suits, President Trump or one of his companies were plaintiffs in 1,900; defendants in 1,450; and bankruptcy, third party, or other in 150. President Trump was named personally in at least 169 suits in federal court. Over 150 other cases were in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (covering Broward County, Florida) since 1983. In the 1,300 cases where the record establishes the outcome, President Trump settled 175 times, lost 38, won 450, and had another 137 cases end with some other outcome. In the other 500 cases, judges dismissed plaintiffs’ claims against President Trump.

Although TMTG is not a party to any of the above-referenced matters, TMTG cannot predict what effect, if any, an adverse outcome to such matters, or even their continued existence, may have on President Trump’s personal reputation and TMTG’s business or prospects.

A publicly-traded entity controlled by President Trump has previously been subject to a cease and desist order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

On January 16, 2002, the SEC issued a cease and desist order against Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc. (“THCR”) for violations of the anti-fraud provisions of the Exchange Act. As discussed in more detail in the SEC Release No. 45287, on October 25, 1999, THCR had issued a press release announcing its results for the third quarter of 1999 (the “Earnings Release”). To announce those results, the Earnings Release used a net

 

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income figure that differed from net income calculated in conformity with U.S. GAAP. Using that non-GAAP figure, the Earnings Release touted THCR’s purportedly positive operating results for the quarter and stated that the Company had beaten analysts’ earnings expectations. The Earnings Release was materially misleading because it created the false and misleading impression that THCR had exceeded earnings expectations primarily through operational improvements, when in fact it had not. The Earnings Release expressly stated that the net income figure excluded a one-time charge. The undisclosed one-time gain was material, because it represented the difference between positive trends in revenues and earnings and negative trends in revenues and earnings, and the difference between exceeding analysts’ expectations and falling short of them. SEC stated that by knowingly or recklessly issuing a materially misleading press release, THCR violated Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC accepted THCR’s offer of settlement.

Upon becoming a public company, the Combined Entity will be required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting commencing with its annual report on Form 10-K. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on its business and operating results and cause a decline in the price of the Combined Entity’s common stock.

A number of companies that were associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy. There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also become bankrupt.

Entities associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy protection. The Trump Taj Mahal, which was built and owned by President Trump, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. The Trump Plaza, the Trump Castle, and the Plaza Hotel, all owned by President Trump at the time, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992. THCR, which was founded by President Trump in 1995, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004. Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., the new name given to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts after its 2004 bankruptcy, declared bankruptcy in 2009. While all of the foregoing were in different businesses than TMTG, there can be no guarantee that TMTG’s performance will exceed the performance of those entities.

A number of companies that had license agreements with President Trump have failed. There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also fail.

Trump Shuttle, Inc., launched by President Trump in 1989, defaulted on its loans in 1990 and ceased to exist by 1992. Trump University, founded by President Trump in 2005, ceased operations in 2011 amid lawsuits and investigations regarding the company’s business practices. Trump Vodka, a brand of vodka produced by Drinks Americas under license from the Trump Organization, was introduced in 2005 and discontinued in 2011. Trump Mortgage, LLC, a financial services company founded by President Trump in 2006, ceased operations in 2007. GoTrump.com, a travel site founded by President Trump in 2006, ceased operations in 2007. Trump Steaks, a brand of steak and other meats founded by President Trump in 2007, discontinued sales two months after its launch. While all these businesses were in different industries than TMTG, there can be no guarantee that TMTG’s performance will exceed the performance of these entities.

The terms of a license agreement with President Trump is not terminable by TMTG when it may be desirable to TMTG. The license agreement does not require President Trump to use Truth Social in certain circumstances and could require TMTG to make payments to President Trump for content on TMTG+.

As further described in the section titled, “Information about TMTG,” President Trump is generally obligated to make any social media post on TruthSocial and may not make the same post on another social media site for 6 hours. Thereafter, he is free to post on any site to which he has access. Thus, TMTG has limited time to benefit from his posts and followers may not find it compelling to use TruthSocial to read his posts that quickly. In addition, he may make a post from a personal account related to political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the-vote efforts on any social media site at any time.

 

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With respect to TMTG+, if President Trump receives a bona fide offer to be featured in any production intended to be streamed on a different VOD service, TMTG has the right to create a substantially similar video production on terms more favorable than those offered by the other service. TMTG may be unable to create a substantially similar or production or offer more favorable terms to President Trump and the content would not be available to TMTG+ subscribers.

TMTG has entered into a license agreement with President Trump wherein neither the personal nor political conduct of President Trump, even if such conduct could negatively reflect on TMTG’s reputation or brand or be considered offensive, dishonest, illegal, immoral, or unethical, or otherwise harmful to TMTG’s brand or reputation, shall be considered a breach of the license agreement. TMTG expressly acknowledges the controversial nature of being associated with President Trump and the possibility of any associated controversies affecting TMTG adversely.

President Trump will significantly influence, or depending on the amount of redemptions, may control the Combined Entity through his stock ownership, enabling him to elect who sits on the Combined Entity’s board of directors, and potentially to block matters requiring stockholder approval, including any potential changes of control.

After giving effect to the Business Combination, President Trump owns approximately 73.3 million of the Combined Entity’s outstanding shares of common stock, representing approximately 46.3% of its voting power (assuming no redemptions and full issuance of the common stock issuable upon conversion of the Preferred Stock, but not including the contingent right to receive Earnout Shares as described more fully in the Merger Agreement). As a result, President Trump has the ability to significantly influence, and may depending on the level of redemptions may control, the outcome of all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of the Combined Entity’s entire board of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of the Combined Entity’s assets, and the ability to control the Combined Entity’s management and affairs. This concentrated control could, among other things, discourage others from initiating any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transaction that may otherwise be beneficial to the Combined Entity’s businesses. If President Trump were to own more than 50% of the voting power, the Combined Entity would be a “controlled company” within the meaning of applicable Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under these corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance standards, including the requirements; (1) that a majority of the Combined Entity’s board of directors consist of independent directors, (2) that the Combined Entity’s board of directors have a compensation committee that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities and (3) that the Combined Entity’s board of directors have a nominating and corporate governance committee that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. The Combined Entity may intend to take advantage of these exemptions. While TMTG has elected to not be treated as a “controlled company,” it could change that election in the future.

TMTG may be subject to greater risks than typical social media or streaming videos services because of the focus of its offerings and the involvement of President Trump. These risks include active discouragement of users, harassment of advertisers or content providers, increased risk of hacking of TMTG’s platform and increased stockholder suits.

TMTG is aware that Big Tech platforms, such as YouTube, “de-monetize” certain content because they disagree with its message. There have been numerous calls to ban or encourage advertisers to boycott content providers who express or permit views contrary to the prevailing narrative. It is likely that these same people calling for boycotts will seek to do the same for companies that may advertise on TruthSocial or provide programming for TMTG+. To the extent these calls are successful, or the mere threat of them sufficient, to prevent advertisers from appearing on TMTG’s platform or providing content to TMTG+, TMTG may not generate the revenues TMTG anticipates and the price of TMTG’s stock could likely decline.

 

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All social media sites are subject to risks of hackers or people who try to disrupt their operations and post false or malicious information or make it seem as if innocent third persons are posting such information. Such people may also try to steal personal information about TMTG’s users. TMTG believes it will be subject to greater risks in this regard than other social media companies currently are. Accordingly, TMTG will have to spend more money to build more robust security to protect against these attacks. There can be no assurance that these efforts will be successful. Any increase of expenditures to protect against attacks will increase TMTG’s expense and thus, decrease its ability to achieve and remain profitable. In the event these attacks are successful, TMTG will have to devote resources to correct problems as well as possibly pay damages to its users for losses they suffer.

TMTG will be a Delaware corporation after giving effect to the Business Combination. As a result, TMTG’s stockholders will have certain rights under Delaware law to information and to make inquiries of TMTG’s board of directors. It is possible that people will invest in TMTG’s common stock simply with the intention to see such information and disrupt TMTG’s management and board’s attention on TMTG’s business. The costs of these matters will increase TMTG’s expenses and thus decrease TMTG’s ability to achieve profitability and remain profitable.

TMTG depends on numerous third-parties to operate successfully, and many of these third parties may not want to engage with TMTG to provide any services. This may limit TMTG’s ability to operate or raise capital.

To operate successfully, TMTG is dependent on third parties to provide services to operate successfully, such as web hosting, content monitoring and technology development. To date, several potential third-party partners have expressed an unwillingness or reluctance to work on TMTG’s products or provide services due to TMTG’s connection with President Trump. Similarly, to the extent TMTG needs to raise additional capital, TMTG will need to engage with investment bankers and investors and it is possible that some will not want to engage with TMTG for similar reasons. For example, it was widely reported that at least one of the initial investors of Digital World sold their stock rather than invest in a company associated with President Trump. There can be no assurance that TMTG will be able to develop and improve its products or raise additional capital if it is unable to engage third parties.

Risks Related to Ownership of New Digital World Common Stock

An active market for New Digital World’s securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of New Digital World’s securities.

The price of New Digital World’s securities may vary significantly due to factors specific to New Digital World as well as to general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for New Digital World’s securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

Nasdaq may delist New Digital World’s securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in New Digital World’s securities and subject New Digital World to additional trading restrictions.

If Nasdaq delists New Digital World’s securities from trading on its exchange and New Digital World is not able to list its securities on another national securities exchange, Digital World expects New Digital World’s securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, New Digital World could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

   

a limited availability of market quotations for its securities;

 

   

reduced liquidity for its securities;

 

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a determination that New Digital World’s common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in the common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for New Digital World’s securities;

 

   

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

   

a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

The market price of New Digital World’s common stock may decline as a result of the Business Combination.

The market price of New Digital World’s common stock may decline as a result of the Business Combination for a number of reasons including if:

 

   

investors react negatively to the prospects of New Digital World’s business and the prospects of the Business Combination;

 

   

the effect of the Business Combination on New Digital World’s business and prospects is not consistent with the expectations of financial or industry analysts; or

 

   

New Digital World does not achieve the perceived benefits of the Business Combination as rapidly or to the extent anticipated by financial or industry analysts.

The New Digital World common stock price may change significantly following the Merger and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.

The trading price of New Digital World common stock is likely to be volatile. The stock market recently has experienced extreme volatility. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. You may not be able to resell your shares of New Digital World common stock at an attractive price due to a number of factors such as those listed in “— Risks Related to TMTG” and the following:

 

   

results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;

 

   

results of operations that vary from those New Digital World’s competitors;

 

   

changes in expectations as to New Digital World’s future financial performance, including financial estimates and investment recommendations by securities analysts and investors;

 

   

declines in the market prices of stocks generally;

 

   

strategic actions by New Digital World or its competitors;

 

   

announcements by New Digital World or its competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, joint ventures, other strategic relationships or capital commitments;

 

   

announcements of estimates by third parties of actual or anticipated changes in the size of New Digital World’s user base or the level of user engagement;

 

   

any significant change in New Digital World’s management;

 

   

changes in general economic or market conditions or trends in New Digital World’s industry or markets;

 

   

changes in business or regulatory conditions, including new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to New Digital World’s business;

 

   

additional shares of New Digital World securities being sold or issued into the market by New Digital World or any of the existing stockholders or the anticipation of such sales, including if New Digital World issues shares to satisfy restricted stock unit related tax obligations or if existing stockholders sell shares into the market when applicable “lock-up” periods end;

 

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investor perceptions of the investment opportunity associated with New Digital World common stock relative to other investment alternatives;

 

   

the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by New Digital World or third parties, including New Digital World’s filings with the SEC;

 

   

litigation involving New Digital World, New Digital World’s industry, or both, or investigations by regulators into New Digital World’s operations or those of New Digital World’s competitors;

 

   

guidance, if any, that New Digital World provides to the public, any changes in this guidance or New Digital World’s failure to meet this guidance;

 

   

the development and sustainability of an active trading market for New Digital World common stock;

 

   

actions by institutional or activist stockholders;

 

   

developments in new legislation and pending lawsuits or regulatory actions, including interim or final rulings by judicial or regulatory bodies;

 

   

changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles; and

 

   

other events or factors, including those resulting from pandemics, natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or responses to these events.

These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of New Digital World common stock, regardless of New Digital World’s actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of New Digital World common stock is low.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If New Digital World was involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from New Digital World’s business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

Because there are no current plans to pay cash dividends on the New Digital World common stock for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your New Digital World common stock at a price greater than what you paid for it.

New Digital World intends to retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion and debt repayment, and there are no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on shares of New Digital World common stock will be at the sole discretion of the New Digital World board of directors. The New Digital World board of directors may take into account general and economic conditions, New Digital World’s financial condition and results of operations, New Digital World’s available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, implications of the payment of dividends by New Digital World to its stockholders or by its subsidiaries to it and such other factors as the New Digital World board of directors may deem relevant. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in New Digital World common stock unless you sell your New Digital World common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

New Digital World stockholders may experience dilution in the future.

The percentage of shares of New Digital World common stock owned by current stockholders may be diluted in the future because of equity issuances for acquisitions, capital market transactions or otherwise, including, without limitation, equity awards that New Digital World may grant to its directors, officers and employees, exercise of the New Digital World warrants. Such issuances may have a dilutive effect on New Digital World’s earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of New Digital World common stock.

 

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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about New Digital World’s business, if they change their recommendations regarding New Digital World common stock or if New Digital World’s operating results do not meet their expectations, the New Digital World common stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for New Digital World common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about New Digital World or its businesses. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of New Digital World, the trading price for New Digital World common stock could be negatively impacted. In the event securities or industry analysts initiate coverage, if one or more of the analysts who cover New Digital World downgrade its securities or publish unfavorable research about its businesses, or if New Digital World’s operating results do not meet analyst expectations, the trading price of New Digital World common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of New Digital World or fail to publish reports on New Digital World regularly, demand for New Digital World common stock could decrease, which might cause the New Digital World common stock price and trading volume to decline.

Future sales, or the perception of future sales, by New Digital World or its stockholders in the public market following the Business Combination could cause the market price for New Digital World common stock to decline.

The sale of shares of New Digital World common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of New Digital World common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for New Digital World to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that it deems appropriate.

It is anticipated that, upon the Closing, and giving effect to the PIPE and assuming immediate and full conversion of the Preferred Stock, Digital World’s public stockholders will retain an ownership interest of approximately 19.0% of the outstanding capital stock of the Combined Entity, the Sponsor will retain an ownership interest of approximately 5.0% of the outstanding capital stock of the Combined Entity and the TMTG securityholders will own approximately 57.2% of the outstanding capital stock of the Combined Entity. The foregoing ownership percentages with respect to the Combined Entity following the Business Combination exclude any outstanding Warrants and assume that (i) there are no redemptions of any shares by Digital World’s public stockholders in connection with the Business Combination, (ii) no awards are issued under the Equity Incentive Plan and (iii) no Working Capital Units or Extension Units are issued. All shares currently held by Digital World public stockholders and all of the shares issued in the Business Combination to existing TMTG securityholders will be freely tradable without registration under the Securities Act, and without restriction by persons other than New Digital World’s “affiliates” (as defined under Rule 144 under the Securities Act, (“Rule 144”)), including New Digital World’s directors, executive officers and other affiliates.

In connection with the Business Combination, certain existing TMTG securityholders, who are expected to own    % shares of New Digital World common stock following the Business Combination (based on the above assumptions and TMTG’s current stockholdings), have agreed with Digital World, subject to certain exceptions, not to dispose of or hedge any of their shares of New Digital World common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of New Digital World common stock during the period from the date of the Closing continuing through the earliest of: (i) the six-month anniversary of the Closing, (ii) the date on which the Closing price of New Digital World common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing, and (iii) such date on which New Digital World completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the New Digital World stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of New Digital World common stock for cash, securities or other property.

In addition, the shares of New Digital World common stock reserved for future issuance under the Equity Incentive Plan will become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued, subject to any

 

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applicable vesting requirements, lockup agreements and other restrictions imposed by law. A total number of shares representing 7.5% of the fully diluted, and as converted, outstanding shares of New Digital World common stock immediately following consummation of the Merger are expected to be reserved for future issuance under the Equity Incentive Plan. New Digital World is expected to file one or more registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register shares of New Digital World common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of New Digital World common stock issued pursuant to the Equity Incentive Plan. Any such Form S-8 registration statements will automatically become effective upon filing. Accordingly, shares registered under such registration statements will be available for sale in the open market.

In the future, New Digital World may also issue its securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The amount of shares of New Digital World common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of the then-outstanding shares of New Digital World common stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to New Digital World stockholders.

Following the Business Combination, New Digital World will be an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if New Digital World takes advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

Following the Business Combination, New Digital World will be an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. New Digital World may continue to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, New Digital World stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We cannot predict whether investors will find securities issued by New Digital World less attractive because New Digital World will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find those securities less attractive as a result of its reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of New Digital World’s securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for New Digital World’s securities and the trading prices of New Digital World’s securities may be more volatile.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. Digital World has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, New Digital World, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of New Digital World’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

 

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New Digital World will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the closing of the Digital World IPO, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which New Digital World has total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion; (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which New Digital World is deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of New Digital World common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year; or (iv) the date on which New Digital World has issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

All of the securities offered by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus will be sold by the Selling Securityholders for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from these sales. The Selling Securityholders will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions and expenses incurred by them for brokerage, accounting, tax or legal services or any other expenses incurred in disposing of the securities. We will bear the costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of the securities covered by this prospectus, including all registration and filing fees, Nasdaq listing fees and fees and expenses of our counsel and our independent registered public accounting firm.

 

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UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Defined terms included below shall have the same meaning as terms defined and included elsewhere in this this prospectus.

The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements of Digital World present the combination of the historical financial information of Digital World and TMTG adjusted to give effect to the Business Combination. The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 combines the historical balance sheet of Digital World and the historical balance sheet of TMTG as of December 31, 2021, on a pro forma basis as if the Business Combination and related transactions, summarized below, had been consummated on December 31, 2021.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 combine the historical statements of operations of Digital World and TMTG for such period on a pro forma basis as if the Business Combination and related transactions had been consummated on January 1, 2021, the beginning of the period presented.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022 combine the historical statements of operations of Digital World and TMTG for such period on a pro forma basis as if the Business Combination and related transactions had been consummated on January 1, 2021, the beginning of the period presented.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements have been developed from and should be read in conjunction with:

 

   

the accompanying notes to the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements;

 

   

the historical unaudited financial statements of Digital World as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and the related notes thereto, included elsewhere in this prospectus;

 

   

the historical unaudited financial statements of TMTG as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and related notes thereto, included elsewhere in this prospectus;

 

   

the historical audited financial statements of Digital World as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the related notes thereto, included elsewhere in this prospectus;

 

   

the historical audited financial statements of TMTG as of December 31, 2021 and for the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 and the related notes thereto, included elsewhere in this prospectus; and

 

   

the sections entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Digital World,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of TMTG,” and other financial information relating to Digital World and TMTG included elsewhere in this prospectus, including the Merger Agreement and the description of certain terms thereof set forth under “The Business Combination.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been presented for illustrative purposes only and does not necessarily reflect what the Combined Entity’s financial condition or results of operations would have been had the Business Combination, convertible notes issuance and private placement occurred on the dates indicated. Further, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information also may not be useful in predicting the future financial condition and results of operations of the Combined Entity. The actual financial position and results of operations may differ significantly from the pro forma amounts

 

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reflected herein due to a variety of factors. The unaudited transaction accounting adjustments represent management’s estimates based on information available as of the date of this unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information and are subject to change as additional information becomes available and analyses are performed. Assumptions and estimates underlying the unaudited pro forma adjustments set forth in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements are described in the accompanying notes. The Combined Entity believes that its assumptions and methodologies provide a reasonable basis for presenting all of the significant effects of the Business Combination, convertible notes issuance and private placement based on information available to management at this time and that the transaction accounting adjustments give appropriate effect to those assumptions and are properly applied in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

On October 20, 2021, Digital World entered into the Merger Agreement with Merger Sub, TMTG, ARC Global Investments II, LLC and TMTG’s General Counsel, as amended on May 11, 2022. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, and subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, upon the Closing, Merger Sub will merge with and into TMTG, with TMTG surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital World, and with TMTG’s equity holders receiving 85,784,314 shares of the New Digital World common stock at a value of $10.20 per share for total consideration of $875,000,000, plus up to an additional 4,708,526 shares of New Digital World Common Stock to be issued upon conversion of convertible notes outstanding as of December 31, 2021, subject to certain adjustments and earnout provisions. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, it is anticipated that Digital World will change its name to Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.

Pursuant to the Digital World Charter, public stockholders are being offered the opportunity to redeem, upon the closing of the merger, shares of Digital World Class A common stock then held by them for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount on deposit in the Trust Account (as of two business days prior to the Closing). The unaudited pro forma condensed combined information contained herein assumes that Digital World stockholders approve the Business Combination. Digital World’s public stockholders may elect to redeem their Class A common stock for cash even if they approve the Business Combination. Digital World cannot predict how many of its stockholders will exercise their right to have their shares redeemed for cash. As a result, for illustrative purposes, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared assuming two alternative levels of additional redemptions of Digital Class A common stock:

 

   

Assuming Minimum Additional Redemptions (“Minimum Redemption”) — this scenario assumes that no shares of Digital World Class A common stock are redeemed; and

 

   

Assuming Maximum Redemptions (“Maximum Redemption”) — This scenario assumes additional redemption of 28.8 million shares of Digital World Class A common stock, for aggregate payment of approximately $274.7 million from the Trust Account), so that Digital World retains at least $5,000,001 in net tangible assets immediately prior to or upon the consummation of the Business Combination (after giving effect to payments of all unpaid expenses, Digital World’s liabilities and redemptions by Digital World’s public stockholders and excluding TMTG’s closing cash and the proceeds of the private placement).

The public stockholder redemptions are expected to be within the parameters described by the above two scenarios. However, there can be no assurance regarding which scenario will be closest to the actual results. Under both scenarios, TMTG is considered the accounting acquirer, as further discussed in Note 2, Basis of Presentation, of the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

 

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UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED BALANCE SHEET

AS OF MARCH 31, 2022

(in thousands)

 

    TMTG
(Historical)
    Digital
(Historical)
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
Assuming
Minimum
Redemption
          Pro Forma
Combined
Assuming
Minimum
Redemption
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
Assuming
Maximum
Redemption
          Pro Forma
Combined
Assuming
Maximum
Redemption
 

ASSETS

               

Current assets:

               

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 26,554     $ 41     $ 293,257       A     $ 1,301,289     $ (274,694     J     $ 1,026,595  
        (10,063     B          
        (8,500     C          
        1,000,000       F          

Related party receivable

            —             —    

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

    561       241           802           802  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current assets

    27,115       282       1,274,694         1,302,091       (274,694       1,027,397  

Non-current assets:

               

Prepaid expenses

      106           106           106  

Cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account

      293,287       (293,257     A       30           30  

Property and equipment, net

    88             88           88  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total non-current assets

    88       293,393       (293,257       224       —           224  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL ASSETS

  $ 27,203     $ 293,675     $ 981,437       $ 1,302,315     $ (274,694 )      $ 1,027,621  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

LIABILITIES, TEMPORARY EQUITY AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

               

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

  $ 1,195     $ 1,952         $ 3,147         $ 3,147  

Working capital loans

      300           300           300  

Due to related parties

    95             95           95  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

    1,290       2,252       —           3,542           3,542  

Non-current liabilities:

               

Deferred underwriting commission

      10,063       (10,063     B          

Derivative liability

    130,748         (130,748     E          

Debt

    2,449         (2,449     E          

Total non-current liabilities

    133,197       10,063       (143,260       —             —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total liabilities

    134,487       12,315       (143,260 )        3,542           3,542  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

               

Temporary equity:

               

Class A common stock subject to possible redemption

      293,250       (293,250     D       —             —    

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

               

Common stock

        9       G       15       (3     J       12  
        3       I          
        3       F          

Class A common stock

      —         —         H          
        —         E             —    

Class B common stock

      —         —         H       —             —    

Additional paid-in capital

      —         293,248       D       1,406,042       (274,691     J       1,131,351  
        (9     G             —    
        (11,890     I             —    
        (8,500     C             —    
        133,196       E          
        999,997       F          

Accumulated deficit

    (107,284     (11,890     11,890       I       (107,284 )           (107,284
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)

    (107,284 )      (11,890 )      1,417,947         1,298,773       (274,694 )        1,024,079  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES, TEMPORARY EQUITY AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT

    27,203       293,675       981,437         1,302,315       (274,694 )        1,027,621  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

 

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UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2022

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

 

     TMTG
(Historical)
    Digital
World
(Historical)
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
Assuming
Minimum
and
Maximum
Redemption
           Pro Forma
Combined
Assuming
Minimum
and
Maximum
Redemption
 

Related party—Net sales

   $       $ —       $ —          $ —    

Cost of revenue

     —         —         —            —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Gross profit

     —         —         —            —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Operating costs and expenses:

           

Selling, general and administrative expenses

     7,791       1,914       8,500       AA        18,205  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Total operating costs and expenses

     7,791       1,914       8,500          18,205  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (7,791     (1,914     (8,500        (18,205

Other income (expense):

           

Interest expense

     (364       —            (364

Change in fair value of derivative liability

     (40,033       —            (40,033

Interest income on Trust Account

       30       (30     BB        —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Total other expense

     (40,397     30       (30        (40,397

Net loss before income tax provision

     (48,188     (1,884     (8,530        (58,602

Income tax provision

              —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (48,188   $ (1,884   $ (8,530      $ (58,602
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

    TMTG
(Historical)
    DWAC
(Historical)
    Assuming
Minimum
Redemption
    Assuming
Maximum
Redemption
 

Weighted average shares outstanding—Common stock

    100,000,000       —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net loss per share—Common stock

  $ (0.48     —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding—Class A common stock

    —         30,027,234       158,213,527       129,463,527  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net loss per share—Class A common stock

    —       $ (0.05   $ (0.37   $ (0.45
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding—Class B common stock

    —         7,187,500       —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net loss per share—Class B common stock

    —       $ (0.05     —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

 

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UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

 

     TMTG(1)
(Historical)
    Digital
World
(Historical)
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
Assuming
Minimum
and
Maximum
Redemption
           Pro Forma
Combined
Assuming
Minimum
and
Maximum
Redemption
 

Related party—Net sales

   $ 2,123     $ —       $ —          $ 2,123  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Cost of revenue

           —         —            —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Gross profit

     2,123       —         —            2,123  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Operating costs and expenses:

           

Selling, general and administrative expenses

     6,379       1,392       9,900       AA        17,671  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Total operating costs and expenses

     6,379       1,392       9,900          17,671  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (4,256     (1,392     (9,900        (15,548

Other income (expense):

           

Interest expense

     (654       —            (654

Change in fair value of derivative liability

     (54,186       —            (54,186

Interest income on Trust Account

       7       (7     BB        —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Total other income (expense)

     (54,840     7       (7        (54,840
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Net loss before income tax provision

     (59,096     (1,385     (9,907        (70,388

Income tax provision

              —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (59,096   $ (1,385   $ (9,907      $ (70,388
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

    TMTG
(Historical)
    Digital
World
(Historical)
    Assuming
Minimum
Redemption
    Assuming
Maximum
Redemption
 

Weighted average shares outstanding—Common stock

    100,000,000       —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net per share—Common stock

  $ (0.59     —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding—Class A common stock

    —         9,404,134       156,628,210       127,878,210  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net per share—Class A common stock

    —       $ (0.08   $ (0.45   $ (0.55
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding—Class B common stock

    —         7,187,500       —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net per share—Class B common stock

    —         (0.08     —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1) 

For the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021

See accompanying notes to the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

 

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NOTES TO UNAUDITED PRO FORMA COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 1—Description of the Merger

On October 20, 2021, Digital World entered into a merger agreement with Merger Sub, TMTG, ARC Global Investments II, LLC and TMTG’s General Counsel. The merger agreement was amended by the First Amendment to the merger agreement (“Merger Agreement”). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, as amended, and subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, upon the Closing, Merger Sub will merge with and into TMTG, with TMTG surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital World, and with TMTG’s equity holders receiving 85,784,314 shares of New Digital World common stock at a value of $10.20 per share for total consideration of $875,000,000, plus up to an additional 4,708,526 shares of New Digital World Common Stock to be issued upon conversion of convertible notes outstanding as of December 31, 2021, subject to certain adjustments and earnout provisions. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, it is anticipated that Digital World will change its name to Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.

Note 2—Basis of Presentation

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information was prepared in accordance with Article 11 of SEC Regulation S-X as amended by the final rule, Release No. 33-10786 “Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses.” The historical financial information of Digital World and TMTG include transaction accounting adjustments to illustrate the estimated effect of the Business Combination, the private placement and certain other adjustments to provide relevant information necessary for an understanding of the combined company upon consummation of the transactions described herein.

Notwithstanding the legal form of the Business Combination pursuant to the Merger Agreement, the Business Combination is expected to be accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with U.S. GAAP because TMTG has been determined to be the accounting acquirer under Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Codification Topic 805, Business Combinations (“ASC 805”) under both the Minimum Redemption and Maximum Redemption scenarios. The determination is primarily based on the evaluation of the following facts and circumstances taking into consideration both the minimum redemption and maximum redemption scenarios:

 

   

The pre-combination equity holders of TMTG will hold the majority of voting rights in Combined Entity;

 

   

The pre-combination equity holders of TMTG will have the right to appoint the majority of the directors on the Combined Entity Board;

 

   

TMTG senior management (executives) will be the senior management (executives) of the Combined Entity; and

 

   

Operations of TMTG will comprise the ongoing operations of Combined Entity.

Under the reverse recapitalization model, the Business Combination will be treated as TMTG issuing equity for the net assets of Digital World, with no goodwill or intangible assets recorded.

The unaudited pro forma combined financial information has been prepared using both the Minimum Redemption and Maximum Redemption scenarios with respect to the potential redemption of Public Shares into cash. The public stockholder redemptions are expected to be within the parameters described by the two scenarios. However, there can be no assurance regarding which scenario will be closest to the actual results.

The unaudited pro forma combined financial information does not reflect the income tax effects of the transaction accounting adjustments as any change in the deferred tax balance would be offset by an increase in the valuation allowance given TMTG incurred losses during the historical period presented.

 

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Note 3—Transaction Accounting Adjustments to the Unaudited Pro Forma Combined Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2022

The transaction accounting adjustments included in the unaudited pro forma combined balance sheet as of March 31, 2022 are as follows:

 

  (A)

Reflects the reclassification of approximately $293.3 million of cash and cash equivalents held in the Trust Account at the balance sheet date that becomes available to fund expenses in connection with the Business Combination or future cash needs of the Company.

 

  (B)

Reflects the payment of approximately $10.1 million of deferred underwriters’ fees.

 

  (C)

Represents transaction costs totaling approximately $8.5 million.

 

Total estimated

   $ 12.3 million  

Total incurred through 3.31.22

   $ 3.8 million  

Estimated remaining costs

   $ 8.5 million  

 

  (D)

Reflects the reclassification of approximately $293.3 million of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption to permanent equity.

 

  (E)

Reflects the conversion, assuming the lowest possible conversion price and including accrued interest, of TMTG convertible promissory notes, which convert upon a qualifying event, including a SPAC transaction, outstanding at March 31, 2022 into approximately 4.7 million shares of Digital World Class A common stock.

 

  (F)

Reflects the issuance of $1 billion of series A convertible preferred stock in the PIPE Investment, which is then converted to 29.8 million shares.

 

  (G)

Represents the issuance of approximately 85.8 million shares of Digital World’s Class A common stock to TMTG equity holders as consideration for the reverse recapitalization.

 

  (H)

Reflects the conversion of 7,187,500 shares of Digital World Class B common stock held by the initial shareholders to Class A common stock.

 

  (I)

Reflects the reclassification of Digital World’s historical accumulated deficit.

 

  (J)

Reflects the maximum redemption of approximately 28.8 million shares for approximately $274.7 million while maintaining equity greater than $5,000,001 and not exceeding total cash available for distribution.

Note 4—Transaction Accounting Adjustments to the Unaudited Pro Forma Combined Statement of Operations for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022

The transaction accounting adjustments included in the unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022 are as follows:

(AA) Transaction costs. See Note 3 (C)

(BB) Elimination of investment income in the trust.

Note 5—Transaction Accounting Adjustments to the Unaudited Pro Forma Combined Statement of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2021

The transaction accounting adjustments included in the unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 are as follows:

(AA) Transaction costs. See Note 3 (C)

(BB) Elimination of investment income in the trust.

 

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Note 6—Loss Per Share

Net loss per share calculated using the historical weighted average shares outstanding, and the issuance of additional shares in connection with the Business Combination assuming the shares were outstanding since January 1, 2021. As the Business Combination is being reflected as if it had occurred at the beginning of the period presented, the calculation of weighted average shares outstanding for basic and diluted net loss per share assumes that the shares issuable relating to the Business Combination have been outstanding for the entire period presented. If the maximum number of shares are redeemed, this calculation is retroactively adjusted to eliminate such shares for the entire period.

The unaudited pro forma combined financial information has been prepared assuming five alternative levels of redemption as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2022:

 

    TMTG
Historical
    Digital
World
Historical
    Minimum
Redemption
    33.33% of
Maximum
Redemption
    50% of
Maximum
Redemption
    66.67% of
Maximum
Redemption
    Maximum
Redemption
 

Book value per diluted share

  $ 0.27     $ 7.89     $ 6.50     $ 6.91     $ 7.14     $ 7.39     $ 7.94  

Weighted average shares outstanding—Common stock

    100,000,000              

Basic and diluted net loss per share—Common stock

  $ (0.48            

Weighted average shares outstanding—Class A common stock

      30,027,234       158,213,527       148,631,152       143,838,527       139,045,902       129,463,527  

Basic and diluted net loss per share—Class A common stock

    $ (0.05   $ (0.37   $ (0.39   $ (0.41   $ (0.42   $ (0.45

Weighted average shares outstanding—Class B common stock

    $ 7,187,500            

Basic and diluted net loss per share—Class B common stock

    $ (0.05          

 

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DIGITAL WORLD MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The statements in the discussion and analysis regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding the performance of our business and the forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements. You should read the following discussion together with the sections titled “Risk Factors” and the audited consolidated financial statements, including the related notes, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. All references to years, unless otherwise noted, refer to our fiscal years, which end on December 31. As used in this section, unless the context suggests otherwise, “we,” “us,” “our,” or “Digital World” refer to Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Overview

We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on December 11, 2020, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. We intend to effectuate our business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

Recent Developments

On October 20, 2021, we entered into a Merger Agreement with Merger Sub, TMTG, our Sponsor, in the capacity as our representative for certain stockholders, and TMTG’s Chief Legal Officer, in the capacity as the representative for stockholders of TMTG.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, (i) upon the Closing, Merger Sub will merge with and into TMTG, with TMTG continuing as the surviving corporation in the Merger and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. In the Merger, (i) all shares of TMTG Stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than those properly exercising any applicable dissenters rights under Delaware law) will be converted into the right to receive the Merger consideration; (ii) each outstanding option to acquire shares of TMTG Stock (whether vested or unvested) will be assumed by the Company and automatically converted into an option to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock, with its price and number of shares equitably adjusted based on the conversion ratio of the shares of TMTG Stock into the Merger consideration and (iii) each outstanding restricted stock unit of TMTG shall be converted into a restricted stock unit relating to shares of the Company’s common stock. At the Closing, the Company will change its name to “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.” Consummation of the TMTG Business Combination is subject to customary conditions of the respective parties, including regulatory approval and the approval of the Merger by our stockholders in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the completion of a redemption offer whereby we will be providing our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of our common stock for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount on deposit in our Trust Account. The Merger Agreement can be terminated by either party if any of the closing conditions have not been satisfied or waived by September 20, 2022 (the “Outside Date”), provided that the Company shall have the right to extend the Outside Date if it obtains an extension of the deadline by which it must complete its business combination (an “Extension”) for the shortest of (i) three months, (ii) the period ending on the last day for the Company to consummate a business combination after such Extension and (iii) such period as determined by the Company. As of the date of this Report, the Company anticipates that the TMTG Business Combination will be consummated on or before the Outside Date.

On December 4, 2021, in support of the TMTG Business Combination, the Company entered into certain SPAs with certain PIPE Investors, pursuant to which the PIPE Investors agreed to purchase up to an aggregate of

 

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1,000,000 shares of the Company’s Preferred Stock for a purchase price of $1,000 per share for an aggregate commitment of up to $1,000,000,000 in a PIPE” to be consummated concurrently with the TMTG Business Combination. The shares are currently convertible into 29,761,905 shares of the Company’s common stock, subject to upward adjustment. The PIPE is conditioned on the concurrent closing of the TMTG Business Combination and other customary closing conditions and is terminable by the PIPE Investors if the TMTG Business Combination has not closed by the Outside Date. For more information on the TMTG Business Combination and the PIPE Investment, see “Item 1. Business.”

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, on December 31, 2021, we had approximately $327,731 in cash. We have incurred and continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

Results of Operations

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities from inception through March 31, 2022 were organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for the initial public offering and the search for targets for our initial business combination, including the proposed Merger with TMTG. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial business combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence in connection with our search for targets for our initial business combination.

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, we had a net loss of $1,884,389, which consists primarily of general and administrative costs of $1,863,920. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $485, which consists of general and administrative costs of $485.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $1,391,593, which consists primarily of formation and operating expenses.

Factors That May Adversely Affect Our Results of Operations

Our results of operations and our ability to complete an initial business combination may be adversely affected by various factors that could cause economic uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets, many of which are beyond our control. Our business could be impacted by, among other things, downturns in the financial markets or in economic conditions, increases in oil prices, inflation, increases in interest rates, supply chain disruptions, declines in consumer confidence and spending, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including resurgences and the emergence of new variants, and geopolitical instability, such as the military conflict in the Ukraine. We cannot at this time fully predict the likelihood of one or more of the above events, their duration or magnitude or the extent to which they may negatively impact our business and our ability to complete an initial business combination.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Until the consummation of the initial public offering, our only source of liquidity was an initial purchase of Class B common stock by our Sponsor and loans from our Sponsor.

On September 8, 2021, we consummated the initial public offering of 28,750,000 units, at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $287,500,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 1,133,484 placement units at a price of $10.00 per placement unit in a private placement to our Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $11,334,840.

 

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Following the initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, a total of $293,250,000 was placed in a U.S.-based Trust Account, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust (“Continental”), acting as trustee. We incurred $15,668,029 in transaction costs, including $3,593,750 of underwriting fees, $10,062,500 of deferred underwriting fees, fair value of representative shares of $1,437,500 and $574,279 of other offering costs.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used in operating activities was $1,114,081 and was primarily comprised of a net loss of $1,391,593.

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, net decrease in cash was $286,239 and was comprised of net cash used in operating activities of $586,239 and net cash provided by financing activities of $300,000. Net cash used in operating activities of $586,239 consisted of a net loss of $1,884,389 partially offset by a change in accrued expenses of $1,281,263. Net cash provided by financing activities of $300,000 consisted of proceeds from working capital loans.

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, net increase in cash was $25,000 and was comprised of net cash provided by financing activities of $25,000. Net cash provided by financing activities of $25,000 consisted of proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor.

As of each of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we had cash of $293,286,629 and $293,257,098 held in the Trust Account, respectively. We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

As of each of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we had cash of $41,492 and $327,731 outside of the Trust Account. We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete a Business Combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. In the event that a business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts, but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Initially, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit, at the option of the lender. The amount of such loans that the parties agreed can be converted to Working Capital Units has subsequently been increased to $30,000,000, subject to stockholder approval. The units would be identical to the placement units. In November 2021, our Sponsor committed to provide loans of up to an aggregate of $1,000,000 to the Company through September 8, 2022 (or up to March 8, 2023 if the Company extends the maximum time to complete a Business Combination), which loans will be non-interest bearing, unsecured and will be payable upon the consummation of a Business Combination. At March 31, 2022, $300,000 was outstanding under this commitment.

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our business combination.

 

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Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our Business Combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our Business Combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. In addition, following our Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

Management believes that the Company has sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity to meet its needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or September 8, 2022 (or up to March 8, 2023 if the Company extends the maximum time to complete a Business Combination), the liquidation date should a Business Combination not be consummate. Over this time period, the Company will be using the funds held outside of the Trust Account for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial business combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the business combination.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as of each of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021.

Contractual Obligations

We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to pay an affiliate of our Sponsor a monthly fee of $15,000 for office space, administrative and support services to us. We will incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of our initial business combination and our liquidation.

The underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per unit, or $10,062,500 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

Critical Accounting Policies

Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption

We account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, shares of common stock are classified as stockholders’ equity. Our shares of Class A common stock feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of our condensed interim balance sheets.

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”.

 

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Derivative instruments are initially recorded at fair value on the grant date and re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. Derivative assets and liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date. The Company accounts for the warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. The Company has determined that the warrants qualify for equity treatment in the Company’s financial statements.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Through March 31, 2022, our efforts had been limited to organizational activities, activities relating to our initial public offering and since the initial public offering, the search for a target business with which to consummate an initial business combination. We have engaged in limited operations and have not generated any revenues. We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception on December 11, 2020. We do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed. The net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the placement held in the Trust Account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee, have been invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

 

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TMTG’S MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of TMTG’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with TMTG’s financial statements and related notes that appear elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition to historical information, this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those made, projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere particularly in the “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” sections of this prospectus.

OVERVIEW

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (“TMTG”) aspires to create a media and technology powerhouse to rival the liberal media consortium and promote free expression on all issues. TMTG was founded to fight back against the Big Tech companies—Meta (Facebook), Twitter, Netflix, Alphabet (Google), Amazon and others—that collude to limit debate in America and silence voices that contradict their woke ideology. TMTG aims to safeguard public debate and open dialogue, and to provide a platform for all users to freely express themselves.

TMTG’s first product, TruthSocial, is a social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without censoring or cancelling users due to their political viewpoints. It is a public, real-time platform where any user can create content and follow other users. TMTG does not impose restrictions on whom a user can follow, which greatly enhances the breadth and depth of available content. Additionally, users can be followed by other users without requiring a reciprocal relationship, enhancing the ability of TMTG users to reach a broad audience.

TruthSocial was generally made available in the first quarter of 2022. The company prides itself on building its platform, to the best of its ability, without relying on hostile Big Tech companies. Working with alternative technology firms that share its commitment to free speech, TMTG fully launched TruthSocial for iOS on April 21, 2022, and made the platform available on other desktop and mobile devices on May 18, 2022.

To foster a flourishing digital public square, TMTG must prevent illegal and other prohibited content from contaminating its platform and will develop and maintain its policies accordingly. Additionally, TMTG is using an artificial intelligence (“AI”) vender known as HIVE, which will provide AI services to prevent the proliferation of such content.

TMTG intends to develop a subscription-based digital streaming service, TMTG+. Though similar to Netflix, Disney+, and other current offerings, TMTG intends to produce or acquire entertainment simply for entertainment’s sake. TMTG’s programming will thus provide a non-woke alternative to the programs offered by streaming services that operate in an increasingly politicized environment. TMTG will not censor the creators of entertainment for TMTG+, nor will it insist that its programming push some particular political ideology.

As TMTG seeks to create a fully integrated media and technology company, it is pursuing these growth strategies:

Launch And Grow TruthSocial. TMTG believes that the growth of TruthSocial will be driven by a virtuous cycle that starts with what is best for its users. Growth in the user base will drive more unique content, which in turn will drive the viral, organic promotion of content on TruthSocial, thereby attracting more platform partners and advertisers. As TruthSocial attracts more users, the value proposition for advertisers increases, thereby incentivizing advertisers to develop unique and compelling content for the platform.

 

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Create A Video On Demand Streaming Platform. TMTG believes that there is a need for quality programming that does not lecture its viewers or only presents one ‘acceptable’ approach on a topic. Entertainers, comedians, and creators have frequently been agents for change in our society. As the large media conglomerates become increasingly monolithic in their views, they cancel those who disagree, and voices are silenced.

Pursue Strategic Acquisitions. TMTG intends to acquire other businesses or technologies that allow it to better offer its products to eventual customers. These may be technology providers that will allow TMTG to make TruthSocial more robust or secure, or businesses with attractive content libraries that could be offered on TMTG+.

Increase Product Offering. Businesses are facing increasing pressure to silence or disavow certain customers. For example, banks or financial service providers may be attacked for having certain types of clients, such as gun manufacturers or oil and gas exploration companies. TMTG believes an opportunity may exist to provide services to businesses that are facing discrimination on the basis of political ideology.

TMTG may begin to generate revenue from the TruthSocial platform as early as 2023. However, TMTG may elect to defer certain revenue driving activities to optimize the platform’s user experience and active user growth. TMTG views TruthSocial active user growth as a critical driver of long-term value and may prioritize the TruthSocial user experience over short-term revenue goals.

Limited Operating History

TMTG was organized as a Delaware Corporation on February 8, 2021. There is no historical financial information about TMTG upon which to base an evaluation of its performance. TMTG is in start-up stage operations and expects to begin to generate revenues from its products and services as early as 2023. TMTG cannot guarantee it will be successful in its business operations. The business is subject to risks inherent in the establishment of a new business enterprise, including limited capital resources and possible cost overruns due to price and cost increases in services and products. TMTG expects that it will incur losses for the foreseeable future. It also expects to incur significant marketing, technology and development, general and administrative and stock-based compensation expenses. As a result, it will need to generate revenues with sufficient operating margins to achieve profitability and may never achieve profitability.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Accounting Estimates

TMTG’s management’s discussion and analysis of its financial condition and results of operations is based on its financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires TMTG to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements as well as the reported expenses during the reporting periods. The accounting estimates that require the most significant, difficult, and subjective judgments have an impact on revenue recognition, the determination of share-based compensation, and financial instruments. The estimates and judgments are evaluated on an ongoing basis. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Income Taxes. TMTG intends to account for income taxes under ASC 740 “Income Taxes” which codified SFAS 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes” and FIN 48 “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes—an Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109,” under the asset and liability method of ASC 740, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. Under ASC 740, the effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period the enactment occurs. A

 

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valuation allowance is provided for certain deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that the company will not realize tax assets through future operations.

Use Of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires TMTG to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates include, assumptions used in the fair value of equity instruments, the valuation allowance against deferred tax assets, and the estimates of fair value of derivative liabilities.

Off-balance Sheet Arrangements. TMTG has no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on its financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

Net Sales. TMTG has not generated significant revenues to date. TMTG expects to generate revenue primarily through advertising on the TruthSocial platform and through monthly subscription fees from its subscription video on demand service. The Company records revenue in accordance with ASC 606. The Company determines the amount of revenue to be recognized through application of the following steps—Identification of the contract, or contracts with a customer;—Identification of the performance obligations in the contract;—Determination of the transaction price;—Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and—Recognition of revenue when or as the Company satisfies the performance obligations.

Cost of revenue. Cost of revenue includes infrastructure costs, other direct costs including revenue share expenses, amortization of acquired intangible assets and amortization of capitalized labor costs for internally developed software, allocated facilities costs, as well as traffic acquisition costs (“TAC”). Infrastructure costs consist primarily of data center costs related to our co-located facilities, which include lease and hosting costs, related support and maintenance costs and energy and bandwidth costs, public cloud hosting costs, as well as depreciation of servers and networking equipment; and personnel-related costs, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation, for our operations teams. TAC consists of costs we incur with third parties in connection with the sale to advertisers of our advertising products that we place on third-party publishers’ websites, and applications or other offerings collectively resulting from acquisitions. Certain elements of our cost of revenue are fixed and cannot be reduced in the near term.

Research and development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel-related costs, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation, for our engineers and other employees engaged in the research and development of our products and services. In addition, research and development expenses include amortization of acquired intangible assets, allocated facilities costs, and other supporting overhead costs.

Marketing and sales. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel-related costs, including salaries, commissions, benefits and stock-based compensation for our employees engaged in sales, sales support, business development and media, marketing, corporate communications and customer service functions. In addition, marketing and sales-related expenses also include advertising costs, market research, trade shows, branding, marketing, public relations costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, allocated facilities costs, and other supporting overhead costs.

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel-related costs, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation, for our executive, finance, legal, information technology, human resources and other administrative employees. In addition, general and administrative expenses include fees and costs for professional services, including consulting, third-party legal and accounting services and facilities costs and other supporting overhead costs that are not allocated to other departments.

 

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Interest Expense. Interest expense consists of accreted interest expense on outstanding convertible promissory note obligations, amortization of deferred financing costs and other related financing expenses.

Other Income (Expense). Other income or (expense) reflects non-recurring and extraordinary non-operating expenses, cost associated with discontinued operations and gains or losses, including the costs and related accumulated depreciation recapture, resulting from the disposal of an asset, upon the sale or retirement of such asset.

Consolidated Balance Sheet

As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021

 

(in thousands)

   March 31,
2022
    December 31,
2021
 

Assets

    

Current assets:

    

Cash

   $ 26,554.4     $ 18,734.4  

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     561.1       431.4  

Related party receivable

     —         23.3  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current assets

     27,115.5       19,189.1  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment

     88.2       62.1  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ 27,203.7     $ 19,251.2  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Liabilities and Stockholders’ deficit

    

Current liabilities:

    

Accounts payable

   $ 1,195.0     $ 811.5  

Related party payable

     95.5       95.5  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

     1,290.5       907.0  

Convertible promissory notes

     2,449.0       2,085.2  

Derivative liability

     130,748.3       75,355.2  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     134,487.8       78,347.4  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Commitments and contingencies (Note 11)

    

Stockholders’ equity:

    

Common Stock $ 0.000001 par value – 120,000,000 shares authorized, 100,000,000 shares issued and 10,000,000 outstanding

     —         —    

Accumulated Deficit

     (107,284.1     (59,096.2
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity

     (107,284.1     (59,096.2
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities and Stockholders’ deficit

   $ 27,203.7     $ 19,251.2  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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Consolidated Statement of Operations

For the three month periods ended March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021

 

     Three Month Period Ended  

(in thousands except share and per share data)

   March 31, 2022     March 31, 2021  

Related party—Net sales

   $ —       $ —    

Cost of revenue

     —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

     —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating costs and expenses

    

Research and development

     4,341.4       0.4  

Sales and marketing

     126.8       —    

General and administration

     3,322.7       64.6  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (7,790.9     (65.0

Interest expense

     (363.8     —    

Change in fair value of derivative liabilities

     (40,033.2     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations before income taxes

     (48,187.9     (65.0

Income tax benefit

     —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (48,187.9 )    $ (65.0 ) 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss per Share attributable to common stockholders:

    

Basic

     (0.48     (0.00
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Diluted

     (0.48     (0.00
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted Average Shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to common stockholders:

    

Basic

     100,000,000       100,000,000  

Diluted

     100,000,000       100,000,000  

Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Deficit

For the three month periods ended March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021

Three month period ended March 31, 2022

 

(in thousands)

   Paid in
Capital
     Accumulated
Deficit
    Total
Stockholders’
Deficit
 

Balance at December 31, 2021

   $ —        $ (59,096.2   $ (59,096.2

Net loss

        (48,187.9     (48,187.9
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at March 31, 2022

   $ —        $ (107,284.1   $ (107,284.1
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Three month period ended March 31, 2021

 

(in thousands)

   Paid in
Capital
     Accumulated
Deficit
    Total
Stockholders’
Deficit
 

Balance at February 8, 2021 (inception)

   $ —        $ —       $ —    

Net loss

        (65.0     (65.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at March 31, 2021

   $ —        $ (65.0   $ (65.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Paid in Capital of 10,000 shares of common stock, each having a par value of $0.00000 was converted to 100,000,000 shares, each having a par value of $0.000001. Total value of paid in capital = $100.

 

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Net Sales. For the periods ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022, TMTG had no net sales.

Cost Of Revenue. For the periods ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022, TMTG’s cost of revenue was $0 as the Company had not yet incurred any associated costs for delivering advertisements on the TruthSocial platform.

Research And Development. For the period ended March 31, 2021, TMTG’s research and development expenses were $400 and increased to $4,341,400 for the period ended March 31, 2022 as a result of preliminary project stage costs for front-end, application and underlying infrastructure costs.

Sales And Marketing. For the period ended March 31, 2021 TMTG had no sales and marketing expenses, compared to the period ended March 31, 2022, when TMTG’s sales and marketing expenses were $126,800. These expenses consisted of the initial marketing expenses for market positioning of the TruthSocial platform.

General And Administrative. For the period ended March 31, 2021, TMTG’s, general and administrative expenses were $64,600 and increased by 5,043.5% to $3,322,700 for the period ended March 31, 2022 as a result staff cost and professional fees from advisors.

Interest Expense. For the period ended March 31, 2021 TMTG had no interest expense, compared to the period ended March 31, 2022 TMTG had Interest Expense of $363,800 consisting of interest accruals on its outstanding convertible promissory notes. All such notes will likely be converted into equity at the closing of this transaction.

Change in fair value of Derivative Liability. For the period ended March 31, 2021, TMTG had no convertible promissory notes issued and outstanding and did not record a non-cash loss related to the increase in the fair value of derivative liability. For the period ended March 31, 2022, TMTG recorded a non-cash loss related to the increase in the fair value of derivative liability of $40,033,200. The increase in fair value relates to the adjustment of input components to the Black-Scholes and Monte Carlo pricing models for the March 31, 2022 valuations, mainly due to the increased probability of the SPAC merger.

Net Loss. For the reasons above, TMTG recorded a net loss of $48,187,900 for the period ended March 31, 2022.

 

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Consolidated Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2021

 

(in thousands)

      

Assets

  

Current assets:

  

Cash

   $ 18,734.4  

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     431.4  

Related party receivable

     23.3  
  

 

 

 

Total current assets

     19,189.1  
  

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment

     62.1  
  

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ 19,251.2  
  

 

 

 

Liabilities and Stockholders’ deficit

  

Current liabilities:

  

Accounts payable

   $ 811.5  

Related party payable

     95.5  
  

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

     907.0  

Convertible promissory notes

     2,085.2  

Derivative liability

     75,355.2  
  

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     78.347.4  
  

 

 

 

Commitments and contingencies (Note 10)

  

Stockholders’ equity:

  

Common Stock $ 0.000001 par value – 110,000,000 shares authorized, 100,000,000 shares issued and 10,000,000 outstanding

     —    

Accumulated Deficit

     (59,096.2
  

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity

     (59,096.2
  

 

 

 

Total liabilities and Stockholders’ deficit

   $ 19,251.2  
  

 

 

 

 

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Consolidated Statement of Operations

For the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021

 

(in thousands except share and per share data)

      

Related party—Net sales

   $ 2,123.3  

Cost of revenue

     —    
  

 

 

 

Gross profit

     2,123.3  
  

 

 

 

Operating costs and expenses

  

Research and development

     2,571.3  

Sales and marketing

     381.7  

General and administration

     3,425.8  
  

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (4,255.5

Interest expense

     (654.3

Change in fair value of derivative liabilities

     (54,186.4
  

 

 

 

Loss from operations before income taxes

     (59,096.2

Income tax benefit

     —    
  

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (59,096.2
  

 

 

 

Loss per Share attributable to common stockholders:

  

Basic

     (0.59
  

 

 

 

Diluted

     (0.59
  

 

 

 

Weighted Average Shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to common stockholders:

  

Basic

     100,000,000  

Diluted

     100,000,000  

Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Deficit

For the period from February 8, 2021 (inception)

through December 31, 2021

 

(in thousands)

   Paid in
Capital
     Accumulated
Deficit
    Total
Stockholders’
Deficit
 

Balance at February 8, 2021 (inception)

   $ —      $ —       $ —    

Net loss

        (59,096.2     (59,096.2
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at December 31, 2021

   $ —      $ (59,096.2   $ (59,096.2
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Paid in Capital of 10,000 shares of common stock, each having a par value of $0.00000 was converted to 100,000,000 shares, each having a par value of $0.000001. Total value of paid in capital = $100.

Net Sales. For the period ended December 31, 2021, TMTG had Related party – Net Sales in the amount of $2,123,300 related to a licensing agreement with one of our stockholders. No other revenues were recorded as the Company was engaged in beta testing the TruthSocial platform and had not yet begun charging advertisers for delivering advertisements.

Cost Of Revenue. For the period ended December 31, 2021, TMTG’s cost of revenue was $0 as the Company had not yet incurred any associated costs for delivering advertisements on the TruthSocial platform as outlined in the previous paragraph.

 

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Research And Development. For the period ended December 31, 2021, TMTG’s research and development expenses were $2,571,300 and comprise preliminary project stage costs for front-end, application and underlying infrastructure costs.

Sales And Marketing. For the period ended December 31, 2021, TMTG’s sales and marketing expenses were $381,700. These expenses consisted of the initial marketing expenses for market positioning of the TruthSocial platform.

General And Administrative. For the Period ended December 31, 2021, TMTG’s, general and administrative expenses were $3,425,800. These expenses consisted of staff cost and professional fees from advisors.

Interest Expense. For the period ended December 31, 2021, TMTG had Interest Expense of $654,300 consisting of interest accruals on its outstanding convertible promissory notes. All such notes will likely be converted into equity at the closing of this transaction.

Change in fair value of Derivative Liability. For the period ended December 31, 2021, TMTG recorded a non-cash loss related to the increase in the fair value of derivative liability of $54,186,400. The increase in fair value relates to the adjustment of input components to the Black-Scholes and Monte Carlo pricing models for the December 31, 2021 valuations, mainly due to the increased probability of the SPAC merger.

Net Loss. For the reasons above, TMTG recorded a net loss of $59,096,200 for the period ended December 31, 2021.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

To date, TMTG has financed its operations primarily through cash proceeds from convertible promissory notes. Additionally, TMTG has committed to issue certain TMTG RSUs to TMTG employees, consultants and independent contractors. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, TMTG will reserve 7,500,000 shares of TMTG common stock for issuance to officers, directors, employees and consultants of TMTG pursuant to an equity incentive plan, which will be duly adopted by the TMTG board of directors and approved by the TMTG stockholders following the date of the Merger Agreement.

Upon consummation of the Business Combination, and subject to stockholder approval, TMTG’s executive officers are expected to receive grants of stock options and restricted stock units under the Equity Incentive Plan from time to time as determined by the Compensation Committee.

TMTG expects to devote substantial resources to expand its users for TruthSocial and its subscriber base for TMTG+ and to maintain and enhance the systems necessary to support its growth. Although TMTG anticipates that its current cash and cash equivalents and cash flows, including the net proceeds from the Business Combination and the PIPE Investment, will be sufficient to fund its activities for the foreseeable future, TMTG cannot assure you that it will not be required to obtain additional financing within this time period or that additional financing, if needed, will be available on terms acceptable to TMTG, or at all. In addition, although there are no present understandings, commitments or agreements with respect to any acquisition of other businesses, products or technologies, TMTG may, from time to time, evaluate acquisitions of other businesses, products and technologies. If TMTG is unable to raise additional equity or debt financing, as and when needed, it could be forced to significantly curtail its operations.

On December 4, 2021, in support of the TMTG Business Combination, Digital World entered into SPAs with the PIPE Investors, pursuant to which the investors agreed to purchase an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, for a purchase price of $1,000 per share of Preferred Stock, for an aggregate commitment of $1,000,000,000 in a PIPE Investment to be consummated concurrently with the Closing. The shares of Preferred Stock have an initial conversion price per share of $33.60 and are initially convertible into an aggregate of 29,761,905 shares of common stock (subject to adjustment, as described below under “Conversion”). The closing of the PIPE is conditioned on the concurrent closing of the TMTG Business Combination and other closing conditions as set forth

 

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in the SPA. The fully committed convertible preferred stock PIPE transaction is priced at $33.60, which represents a 20% discount to DWAC’s volume weighted average closing price (“VWAP”) for the preceding five days. The price is subject to further downward adjustment to a 40% discount to DWAC’s VWAP for the ten trading days following the day of the Business Combination, with a floor price of $10.00. The PIPE financing is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close immediately prior to the business combination.

As of March 31, 2022, TMTG had issued $38,200,000 of convertible promissory notes. Assuming accrued interest through year-end 2022, these notes will convert, in the aggregate from approximately 2,900,000 to 4,900,000 shares of Common Stock upon Business Combination. These notes have maturity periods ranging from 18 to 36 months and accrue interest between 5% and 10% based on simple interest method (365 days year).

TMTG’s operating needs include the planned costs to operate its business, including amounts required to fund working capital and capital expenditures. The future capital requirements and the adequacy of available funds will depend on many factors, including TMTG’s ability to successfully commercialize its products and services, competing social media platforms, streaming services, technological and market developments, and the need to enter into collaborations with other companies or acquire other companies or technologies to enhance or complement TMTG’s product and service offerings.

TMTG believes that the proceeds of this offering will be sufficient to fund its operations for the foreseeable future.

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

For the three month periods ended March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021

 

     Three Month Period Ended  

(in thousands)

   March 31, 2022     March 31, 2021  

Cash flows from operating activities

    

Net loss

   $ (48,187.9   $ (65.0

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

    

Non-cash interest expense on debt

     363.9       —    

Change in fair value of derivative liability

     40,033.2       —    

Depreciation

     11.3       —    

Related party receivable

     23.3       —    

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     (129.7     —    

Accounts payable

     383.3       1.0  

Related party payable

     —         63.9  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash used in operating activities

     (7,502.6     —    

Cash flows used in investing activities

    

Purchases of property, plant and equipment

     (37.4     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash used in investing activities

     (37.4     —    

Cash flows provided by financing activities

    

Proceeds from convertible promissory notes

     15,360.0       —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

     15,360.0       —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net change in cash

     7,820.0       —    

Cash, beginning of period

     18,734.4       —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash, end of period

   $ 26,554.4       —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information

    

Cash paid for interest

   $ —       $ —    

Cash paid for taxes

     —         —    

Non cash investing and financing activities

    

Costs associated with convertible notes

   $ —       $ —    

 

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Cash Flows Used in Operating Activities

TMTG experienced negative cash flows from operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2022 in the amount of $7,502,600 compared to $0 for the period ended March 31, 2021. The increase in net cash used in operating activities for the period was primarily the result of TMTG’s technology consulting costs, infrastructure costs, legal fees, salaries, and lease expense.

Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the period ended March 31, 2022 was $37,400, compared to $0 for the period ended March 31, 2021. The increase was primarily attributable to costs acquiring property plant and equipment.

Cash Flows Provided By Financing Activities

TMTG experienced positive cash flows from financing activities for the period ended March 31, 2022 in the amount of $15,360,000 as a result of the issuance of the convertible promissory notes, compared to $0 for the period ended March 31, 2021.

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

For the period from February 8, 2021 (inception)

through December 31, 2021

 

(in thousands)

      

Cash flows from operating activities

  

Net loss

   $ (59,096.2

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

  

Non-cash interest expense on debt

     654.0  

Change in fair value of derivative liability

     54,186.4  

Depreciation

     6.5  

Related party receivable

     (23.3

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     (431.3

Accounts payable

     811.5  

Related party payable

     95.5  
  

 

 

 

Net cash used in operating activities

     (3,797.0

Cash flows used in investing activities

  

Purchases of property, plant and equipment

     (68.6
  

 

 

 

Net cash used in investing activities

     (68.6

Cash flows provided by financing activities

  

Proceeds from convertible promissory notes

     22,600.0  
  

 

 

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

     22,600.0  
  

 

 

 

Net change in cash

     18,734.4  

Cash, beginning of period

     —    
  

 

 

 

Cash, end of period

   $ 18,734.4  
  

 

 

 

Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information

  

Cash paid for interest

   $ —    

Cash paid for taxes

     —    

Non-cash investing and financing activities

  

Costs associated with convertible notes

   $ 240.0  

 

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Cash Flows Used in Operating Activities

TMTG experienced negative cash flows from operating activities for the period ended December 31, 2021 in the amount of $3,797,000. The net cash used in operating activities for the period was primarily the result of TMTG’s operating loss for such period of $4,255,500, which was driven by technology consulting costs, legal fees, salaries, and lease expense.

Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the period ended December 31, 2021 was $68,600, which was primarily attributable to costs acquiring property plant and equipment.

Cash Flows Provided By Financing Activities

TMTG experienced positive cash flows from financing activities for the period ended December 31, 2021 in the amount of $22,600,000 as a result of the issuance of the convertible promissory notes described below.

Liquidity and going concern

TMTG commenced operations on February 8, 2021 and is currently preparing to launch its social media product across multiple platforms. The business used cash from operations of $3,797,000 from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, funded by $22,600,000 of proceeds from the issuance of convertible promissory notes. These notes mature between 18 and 36 months; however, each has an accelerated retirement feature in the event of default by the Company. Interest will be accrued between 5% and 10% annually based on the simple interest method (365 days per year).

In October of 2021, TMTG entered into a definitive merger agreement with Digital World. The companies expect to consummate the merger in the coming quarters, combining TMTG’s operations with Digital World’s balance sheet (i.e., cash in trust net of redemptions and fees). The parties to the agreement intend to effect the merger of Digital World and its subsidiaries with and into TMTG, with TMTG continuing as the surviving entity. As a result of which, all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of TMTG shall no longer be outstanding and shall automatically be cancelled and shall cease to exist, in exchange for the right for each of TMTG’s stockholders to receive its pro rata share of the stockholder merger consideration subject to the conditions set forth in the merger agreement and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law.

During the period January 2022 through March 2022, TMTG raised additional bridge funding of $15,360,000. The directors believe that the Company will have sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due for the 12-month period ending April 30, 2023.

General Economic Trends, Quarterly Results of Operations and Seasonality

TMTG anticipates that its business will be affected by general economic and other consumer trends. The business may be subject to fluctuations in future operating periods due to a variety of factors, many of which may be outside of TMTG’s control.

Qualitative and Quantitative Disclosures about Market Risk

TMTG may have operations both within the United States and internationally and will be exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business. These risks include primarily interest rate and foreign currency exchange risks amongst other risks.

 

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Interest Rate Fluctuation Risk

TMTG’s investment portfolio may consist of short-term and long-term interest-bearing obligations, including government and investment-grade debt securities and money market funds. These securities may be classified as available-for-sale and, consequently, are recorded on the consolidated balance sheets at fair value with unrealized gains or losses reported as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax. TMTG’s investment policy and strategy will be focused on the preservation of capital and supporting its liquidity requirements. TMTG will not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes. A rise in interest rates could have a material adverse impact on the fair value of any future investment portfolio.

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

Transaction Exposure

TMTG may transact business in various foreign currencies and have international revenue, as well as costs denominated in foreign currencies, primarily the Euro, British Pound and Japanese Yen. This exposes us to the risk of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Accordingly, changes in exchange rates, and in particular a strengthening of the U.S. dollar, would negatively affect our revenue and other operating results as expressed in U.S. dollars.

The primary objective of any investment activities is to preserve principal, while at the same time maximizing income we receive from investments without significantly increased risk. Some of the securities TMTG may invest in may be subject to market risk. This means that a change in prevailing interest rates may cause the principal amount of the investment to fluctuate. For example, if TMTG holds a security that was issued with a fixed interest rate at the then-prevailing rate and the prevailing interest rate later rises, the value of its investment will decline. To minimize this risk in the future, TMTG intends to maintain its portfolio of cash equivalents and investments in a variety of securities, including commercial paper, money market funds, government and non-government debt securities and certificates of deposit with maturities of less than thirteen months. In general, money market funds are not subject to market risk because the interest paid on such funds fluctuates with the prevailing interest rate.

 

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TMTG’S BUSINESS

References in this section to “we,” “our,” “us,” “the Company,” or “TMTG” generally refer to Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

About Trump Media & Technology Group

TMTG believes free and open communication, particularly political speech, is essential to effective self-government and a functional democracy. Free expression allows citizens to keep their government in check and effectively inform themselves as voters. Free speech also enables the discovery of truth through the “marketplace of ideas.” Truth often emerges only when opposing ideas can compete against each other, on a level playing field. TMTG further believes that the ability to freely express core political speech—”to facilitate truth-seeking on matters of public concern,” as one commentator has put it—is among the “inalienable rights” affirmed by the Declaration of Independence that form the foundation of America’s system of government. As one internet pioneer recently summarized the issue, “free speech in our society is more than legalism, but [is] an integral component of our way of life, our culture, [and] our civilization . . . [i]ncarnated in the Constitution, but not limited to the Constitution.” That cherished free speech tradition, “[h]ard fought . . and won . . . over centuries,” is under attack.

In response, TMTG aspires to create a media and technology powerhouse to rival the liberal media consortium and promote free expression on all issues. TMTG was founded to fight back against the Big Tech companies—Meta (Facebook), Twitter, Netflix, Alphabet (Google), Amazon and others—that collude to limit debate in America and silence voices that contradict their woke ideology. Twitter currently suppresses conservative speech through various means including “shadow banning”—a surreptitious process in which users may not even know their posts are being hidden from other users. The company also outright bans conservative users such as TMTG’s Chairman, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump—even while it continues to allow the Taliban to freely post their views to the world. Big Tech’s transformation into the arbiters of public speech is contrary to American values. Their censorship of dissident expression constitutes the most serious threat today to a free and democratic debate. Thus, TMTG aims to safeguard public debate and open dialogue, and to provide a platform for all users to freely express themselves.

TMTG’s first product, TruthSocial, is a social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without censoring or cancelling users due to their political viewpoints. It is a public, real-time platform where any user can create content and follow other users. TMTG does not impose restrictions on whom a user can follow, which greatly enhances the breadth and depth of available content. Additionally, users can be followed by other users without requiring a reciprocal relationship, enhancing the ability of TMTG users to reach a broad audience.

TruthSocial was generally made available in the first quarter of 2022. The company prides itself on building its platform, to the best of its ability, without relying on hostile Big Tech companies. Working with alternative technology firms that share its commitment to free speech, TMTG fully launched TruthSocial for iOS on April 21, 2022, and expects to make the platform available on other desktop and mobile devices in the second quarter of 2022.

To foster a flourishing digital public square, TMTG must prevent illegal and other prohibited content from contaminating its platform and will develop and maintain its policies accordingly. Additionally, TMTG is using an artificial intelligence (“AI”) vender known as HIVE, which will provide AI services to prevent the proliferation of such content.

TMTG intends to develop a subscription-based digital streaming service, TMTG+. Though similar to Netflix, Disney+, and other current offerings, TMTG intends to produce or acquire entertainment simply for entertainment’s sake. TMTG’s programming will thus provide a non-woke alternative to the programs offered by

 

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streaming services that operate in an increasingly politicized environment. TMTG will not censor the creators of entertainment for TMTG+, nor will it insist that its programming push some particular political ideology.

Industry Overview

Today more people get their news than ever before from the internet, including websites operated by real world reporting sources, including those operated by newspapers and cable news providers. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted from August 31, 2020, to September 7, 2020, a large majority of Americans read news from digital devices. More than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (86%) state that they get news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet “often” or “sometimes,” including 60% who say they do so often. This is higher than the portion who get news from television, though 68% get news from TV at least sometimes and 40% do so often. Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently, with half saying they turn to radio at least sometimes (16% do so often) and about a third (32%) saying the same of print (10% get news from print publications often).

Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become popular platforms for public discussions and information gathering. These sites were originally characterized by the free exchange of ideas—in fact, the founders of these companies were often free-speech idealists. The freewheeling marketplace of ideas they created, however, has been eviscerated by an overbearing censorship regime implemented by the few large, powerful corporations that now dominate the sector. Even the founder and former CEO of Twitter has lamented that “centralizing discovery and identity into corporations” has “really damaged the internet.”

These corporations increasingly decide which viewpoints can and cannot be expressed on their platforms. No one, not even a sitting President of the United States, is beyond the reach of Big Tech censorship. This dynamic has become—as Twitter’s own founder predicted it would—“destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet.” Social media companies employ, rely on, and have largely become captive to an ever-expanding faction of content moderators and so-called “fact checkers” who suppress content and promote so-called “algorithmic justice.” The means of censorship include “shadow bans” (to which users may not even know they are subject), temporary suspensions, misinformation warnings, removal of offending posts, and outright bans on users and accounts. Alarmingly, viewpoints are frequently suppressed simply for contradicting the prevailing media narrative on topics of public interest. As a result, users increasingly engage in self-censorship in an attempt to avoid takedowns, suspensions, and bans meted out by anonymous Big Tech censors.

This oppressive censorship creates opportunities for TMTG, which seeks to create a free-speech haven in the social media sphere. Moreover, as America and the world emerge from the isolation of a years-long pandemic, Truth Social intends to provide a global platform to help reconnect people and communities by fostering each individual’s unique and unencumbered free expression.

TMTG believes that there is a similar market opportunity for its streaming video service TMTG+. According to a 2021 survey conducted by marketing solutions company, Vericast, 70% of adults surveyed were using streaming TV services. A separate survey done by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that between 2019 and 2020, the average number of streaming services used by each survey respondent grew from slightly more than 6 streaming services to almost 8. A 2021 survey conducted by Whip Media, an enterprise software company, shows the main players in the subscription video on demand market against whom TMTG+ will compete. 88% of their sample of “avid users of streaming services” had subscriptions to Netflix, 76% had subscriptions to Prime Video, and 71% subscribed to Hulu.

A Grand View Research report on video streaming market size from February 2021 provides that the global streaming market was valued at USD 50.11 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.0% from 2021 to 2028. Furthermore, industry statistics for social networking site in the U.S. by IBIS World in July 2021 states that the market size, measured by revenue, of the social networking sites industry is $72.2bn in 2022 and is expected to increase 15.6% in 2022.

 

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Company Growth Strategy

As TMTG seeks to create a fully integrated media and technology company, it is pursuing these growth strategies:

Grow TruthSocial. TMTG believes that the growth of TruthSocial will be driven by a virtuous cycle that starts with what is best for its users. Growth in TMTG’s user base will drive more unique content, which in turn will drive the viral, organic promotion of content on TruthSocial, thereby attracting more platform partners and advertisers. As TMTG attracts more users, the value proposition for advertisers increases, thereby incentivizing advertisers to develop unique and compelling content for TMTG’s platform.

Create a VOD Streaming Platform. TMTG believes that there is an acute need for quality programming that does not lecture its viewers or only present one “acceptable” approach to a topic. Entertainers and creators have frequently been agents for change in our society. Large media conglomerates become increasingly monolithic in their views, cancelling those who disagree with the prevailing narrative. TMTG believes that embracing diverse perspectives will differentiate TMTG+ in the current crowded media and entertainment marketplace.

Pursue Strategic Acquisitions. TMTG intends to acquire other businesses or technologies that allow the TMTG to better offer its products to eventual customers. These may be technology providers that will allow TMTG to make TruthSocial more robust or, acquire proprietary content to offer on TMTG+.

Increase Product Offerings. As businesses come under increasing pressure to silence, disavow, and stop offering services to certain customers, TMTG believes that opportunities for “non-woke” alternatives will continue to expand across numerous sectors.

Company Products and Services

TruthSocial

TMTG has designed TruthSocial to create a user-centric, interactive experience. TMTG’s development efforts focus on simplicity and ensuring that content can be accessed on, or shared with, all participants without discrimination.

Description of Business

TruthSocial is a free expression application which offers social networking services.

TMTG’s Social Network

TruthSocial, TMTG’s social networking platform, relies on free, publicly-available software. Regardless of whether TruthSocial’s administrators, outside activist pressure groups, “cancel culture” internet mobs, foreign governments, or any other persons agree with any user’s political viewpoints, TMTG strives to ensure that, wherever possible, any user’s protected political speech will be allowed on the site, irrespective of whether TMTG, as a company, agrees with what is said.

TMTG+ Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Services

TMTG intends for TMTG+ to be a subscription based direct-to-consumer video streaming service that will include unique programming. TMTG+ intends to offer programs including, but not limited to blue collar comedy, cancelled shows, Trump-specific programming, faith-based shows, family entertainment, shows that embrace the Second Amendment, and news. TMTG intends to license, produce, and deliver news, sports, and non-woke entertainment content through this platform. TMTG+ will provide a platform for conservative and/or libertarian views, and otherwise cancelled content from other broadcast television and/or digital streaming platforms. TMTG also intends to create, operate, and commercialize a podcasting platform as a part of its TMTG+ streaming service.

 

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Competition

TMTG’s business is and will likely remain characterized by rapid technological change, frequent product innovation and the continuously evolving preferences and expectations of people on its platform, advertisers, content partners, platform partners and developers. TMTG will likely face significant competition in every aspect of its business, including from companies that provide tools to facilitate communications and the sharing of information, companies that enable marketers to display advertising, and other online ad networks, exchanges, and platforms. TMTG will need to compete in order to attract, engage, and retain people who use its products, and to attract and retain marketers, content and platform partners, and developers. TMTG expects continued, robust competition for digital ad spending. TMTG will also need to compete to attract and retain employees, especially software engineers, designers, and product managers. TMTG also expects that it will face criticism, and its users may face criticism, from legacy social media sites and others that are opposed to the views that will be expressed by TMTG’s users. While TMTG will welcome dissenting voices to respond on TMTG’s platform, others may prefer to ignore or disparage TMTG or its users in other forums.

TMTG expects to face significant competition with the following companies for people’s attention and for advertisers’ budgets:

 

   

Companies that offer products that enable people to create and share ideas, videos, and other content and information. These offerings include, for example, Twitter, Facebook (now known as Meta) (including Instagram and WhatsApp), Alphabet (including Google and YouTube), Microsoft (including LinkedIn), Snapchat, TikTok, and Verizon Media Group, as well as largely regional social media and messaging companies that have strong positions in particular countries (including WeChat, Kakao, and Line). Although TMTG will seek differentiated content from other licensors, TMTG will face competition for live premium video content rights from other digital distributors and traditional television providers, which may limit TMTG’s ability to secure such content on acceptable economic and other terms.

 

   

Companies that offer advertising inventory and opportunities to advertisers.

 

   

Companies that develop applications, particularly mobile applications, that create, syndicate, and distribute content across internet properties.

 

   

Traditional, online, and mobile businesses that enable people to consume content or marketers to reach their audiences and/or develop tools and systems for managing and optimizing advertising campaigns.

As TMTG introduces new products, as its products evolve, or as other companies introduce new products and services, TMTG may become subject to additional competition. TMTG’s industry is evolving rapidly and is highly competitive. See the sections titled “Risk Factors—TMTG’s business is highly competitive. Competition presents an ongoing threat to the success of TMTG’s business. If TMTG is unable to compete effectively for users and advertiser spend, TMTG’s business and operating results could be harmed,” and “Risk Factors—The loss of key personnel or the inability of replacements to quickly and successfully perform in their new roles could adversely affect TMTG’s business.”

The market for in-home filmed and audio-visual entertainment is intensely competitive and subject to rapid change. Many consumers maintain simultaneous relationships with multiple in-home filmed and audio-visual entertainment providers and can easily shift spending from one provider to another. For example, consumers may subscribe to HBO, buy a DVD from Walmart, and subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Disney +, Amazon Prime, or some combination thereof, all in the same month.

TMTG will compete against other entertainment video providers, such as multichannel video programming distributors (or MVPDs), streaming entertainment providers (including those that provide pirated content), video gaming providers and more broadly against other sources of entertainment that TMTG’s members could choose in their moments of free time. TMTG will also compete against streaming entertainment providers and content producers in obtaining content for its service, both for licensed content and for original content projects.

 

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Sales and Marketing

TMTG intends to have a sales force and sales support staff that is focused on attracting and retaining advertisers. TMTG expects that its sales force and sales support staff will assist advertisers throughout the advertising campaign cycle, from pre-purchase decision making to real-time optimizations as they utilize TMTG’s campaign management tools, and to post-campaign analytics reports to assess the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.

TMTG expects that its marketing campaigns will focus on celebrating and highlighting the voices of all people who make TruthSocial unique. TMTG believes advertisers could eventually be attracted to a platform that encourages free and open debate among all users rather than to a platform that seeks to silence diverse perspectives—including views held by large swaths of Americans.

License Agreement

TMTG has entered into a royalty-free license agreement with President Trump and DTTM Operations, LLC, an entity that licenses President Trump’s name and regulates his personal media assets. Under the license agreement, as amended, TMTG has a royalty-free license to use “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.” as our name and certain specified domain names specified in the license agreement. In addition, TMTG has a royalty-free license to use the name and likeness of President Trump, subject to certain limitations.

From December 22, 2021, until the expiration of 18 months thereafter, (the “TMTG Social Media Exclusivity Term”), President Trump has agreed to first channel any and all social media communications and posts coming from his personal profile to the Truth Social platform before posting that same social media communication and/or post to any other social media platform that is not Truth Social (collectively, “Non-TMTG Social Media”) until the expiration of “DJT/TMTG Social Media 6-Hour Exclusive” which means the period commencing when DJT posts any social media communication onto the Truth Social Platform and ending six (6) hours thereafter; provided that he may post social media communications from his personal profile that specifically relates to political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the vote efforts at any time on any Non-TMTG social media platforms. Unless notice is given, the TMTG Social Media Exclusivity Term extends in perpetuity for additional 180-day terms. In the event of a force majeure as described in the License Agreement that lasts longer than 30 days, President Trump shall have the right to invoke the suspension of the “DJT/TMTG Social Media 6-Hour Exclusive.” If the Social Media Exclusivity Term were to expire but the License Agreement remained in effect, President Trump would be required to post contemporaneously to TruthSocial and Non-TMTG Social Media.

With respect to TMTG+ or a TMTG podcasting platform, if President Trump receives a bona fide offer to be featured on any non-TMTG streaming video production or on any non-TMTG podcast platform, TMTG has the right to create a substantially similar video production or podcast opportunity on terms more favorable than those offered by the non-TMTG service providers subject to the terms of the Amended and Restated License Agreement.

President Trump has agreed not to compete with TruthSocial for his own benefit, except as described above, and may not have an ownership interest in any business that would be competitive with TruthSocial, TMTG+, or a TMTG podcasting platform.

Subject to certain limitations, the License Agreement shall remain in full force and effect for three years from September 23, 2021. If, during such term, TMTG becomes listed on a public market exchange in the United States via, inter alia, the Business Combination, the License Agreement shall continue in perpetuity until terminated by TMTG. However, in the event that the Business Combination is not completed on or before December 31, 2022 (or a subsequent date mutually agreed upon by President Trump and TMTG), President Trump has the right to terminate the License Agreement. TMTG may not terminate the License Agreement based

 

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on the personal or political conduct of President Trump, even if such conduct could negatively reflect on TMTG’s reputation or brand or be considered offensive, dishonest, illegal, immoral, or unethical, or otherwise harmful to TMTG’s brand or reputation.

Intellectual Property

One of the core strengths of TMTG’s business is its intellectual property portfolio and unique experience, both of which guide product development activities and TMTG’s approach to patent filings.

TMTG’s future success and competitive position depend in part upon its ability to obtain and maintain protection of its proprietary technologies. TMTG also relies on a combination of non-disclosure agreements and other contractual provisions, as well as its employees’ commitment to confidentiality and loyalty, to protect TMTG’s technology and processes. Further, as noted above, TMTG has entered into a Licensing Agreement with President Trump, and DTTM Operations, LLC, for the right to use the likeness of President Trump.

TMTG seeks to protect its intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state, and common law rights in the United States and other countries, as well as contractual restrictions. TMTG will enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with its employees and contractors, and confidentiality agreements with other third parties, in order to limit access to, and disclosure and use of, TMTG’s confidential information and proprietary technology. In addition to these contractual arrangements, TMTG also relies on a combination of trademarks filed in the name of T Media Tech LLC and Trump Media Group Corp., trade dress, domain names, copyrights, trade secrets and patents to help protect its brand and its other intellectual property.

TMTG may be unable to obtain patent or trademark protection for its technologies and brands, and any patents or trademarks that may be issued in the future, may not provide TMTG with competitive advantages or distinguish its products and services from those of its competitors. In addition, any patents and trademarks may be contested, circumvented, or found unenforceable or invalid, and TMTG may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing, diluting or otherwise violating them. In February 2022, the USPTO received a Letter of Protest from Vero Labs, Inc., owner of U.S. registrations for the trademark, “VERO – TRUE SOCIAL,” in connection with the pending U.S. trademark application for “TRUTH SOCIAL.” On April 5, 2022, the USPTO issued an Office Action with respect to the pending U.S. trademark application for “TRUTH SOCIAL” citing the “VERO – TRUE SOCIAL” registrations against the pending application. Trump Media Group Corp. intends to respond to the USPTO’s Office Action with arguments in favor of registration of the “TRUTH SOCIAL” trademark. There is no guarantee that the USPTO will accept the arguments presented and agree to register the “TRUTH SOCIAL” Trademark. In the event we are unable to successfully register the pending “TRUTH SOCIAL” trademark, we may be forced to change our name or reach an accommodation of the “VERO – TRUE SOCIAL” trademark to permit us to use “TRUTH SOCIAL.”

Companies in the Internet, technology, and media industries own large numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets and frequently enter into litigation based on allegations of infringement, misappropriation, or other violations of intellectual property or other rights. In addition, various “non-practicing entities” that own patents and other intellectual property rights often attempt to aggressively assert their rights in order to extract value from technology companies. TMTG expects to face in the future, allegations that TMTG has infringed or otherwise violated the patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other intellectual property rights of third parties, including its competitors and non-practicing entities. As TMTG faces increasing competition and as its business grows, TMTG will likely face more intellectual property-related claims and litigation matters. For additional information, see the sections titled “Risk Factors—If TMTG’s trademarks and other proprietary rights are not adequately protected to prevent use or appropriation by TMTG’s competitors, the value of TMTG’s brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and TMTG’s business may be adversely affected. If TMTG is unable to protect TMTG’s intellectual property, or to successfully register the pending “Truth Social” trademark with the USPTO, the value of TMTG’s brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and TMTG’s business may be adversely affected.”

 

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Government Regulation

TMTG is subject to a number of U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations that involve matters central to TMTG’s business. These laws and regulations may involve privacy, rights of publicity, data protection, content regulation, intellectual property, competition, protection of minors, consumer protection, taxation, or other subjects. Many of these laws and regulations are still evolving and being tested in courts and could be interpreted in ways that could harm TMTG’s business. In addition, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations often are uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which TMTG operates.

TMTG is also subject to federal, state, and foreign laws regarding privacy and the protection of user data. Foreign data protection, privacy, consumer protection, content regulation and other laws and regulations are often more restrictive than those in the United States. There are also a number of legislative proposals pending before the U.S. Congress, various state legislative bodies, and foreign governments concerning data protection that could affect TMTG. For example, the Company is subject to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“GDPR”), which applies to all members of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and, in some circumstances, to processors in a state outside the EEA including any business, regardless of its location, that provides goods or services to individuals located in the EEA. The GDPR imposes significant obligations on data controllers and data processors, requiring the implementation of more stringent requirements for the processing of personal data. If the Company fails to comply with the GDPR, it may lead to regulatory investigation with possible enforcement of monetary penalties ranging from 10 million to 20 million euro, or 2% to 4% of annual worldwide revenue (whichever is higher), private or class action lawsuits and/or reputational damage.

Additionally, in June 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which provides new data privacy rights for consumers and new operational requirements for companies, effective in 2020. The CCPA gives California residents new rights to access and require deletion of their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing, and receive detailed information about how their personal information is collected, used, and shared. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations and creates a private right of action for security breaches that could lead to consumer class actions and other litigation against the Company.

Further, in Canada, the Company is subject to Canada’s Personal Information and Protection of Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). PIPEDA provides Canadian residents with privacy protections and sets out rules for how companies may collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities.

TruthSocial users may be restricted from accessing TruthSocial from certain countries, and other countries may intermittently restrict access to TruthSocial. It is possible that other governments may seek to restrict access to or block TMTG’s website or mobile applications, censor content available through TMTG’s products or impose other restrictions that may affect the accessibility or usability of TMTG for an extended period of time or indefinitely.

TruthSocial as an internet platform is subject to 47 U.S. Code § 230 and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) in addition to the regulations discussed above. The FTC has adopted revisions to the COPPA that expands liability for the collection of information by operators of websites and other electronic solutions that are directed to children. 47 U.S. Code § 230 prevents TruthSocial from incurring any liability for restricting access to or the availability of material that a user may consider to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable whether or not such material is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. constitution. Further, pursuant to the statute, TruthSocial will at the time of entering an agreement with a customer, notify such customer that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available and may assist the customer in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors.

 

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For additional information, see the section titled “Risk Factors—Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations. These laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to our business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations or declines in user growth, user engagement or ad engagement, or otherwise harm our business.”

Litigation

TMTG may be a party to routine claims or litigation incidental to its business. TMTG is currently not a party to any pending legal proceeding that is likely to have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, or results of operations.

The nature of TMTG’s business will expose TMTG to claims related to defamation, rights of publicity and privacy, and personal injury torts resulting from information that is published or made available on TMTG’s platform. This risk is enhanced in certain jurisdictions outside the United States where TMTG’s protection from liability for content published on its platform by third parties may be unclear and where TMTG may be less protected under local laws than it is in the United States. Although the results of the legal proceedings, claims and government investigations in which TMTG is involved cannot be predicted with certainty, TMTG does not believe that there is a reasonable possibility that the final outcome of these matters will have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition or operating results.

Future litigation may be necessary, among other things, to defend TMTG, its platform partners, and its users by determining the scope, enforceability, and validity of third-party proprietary rights or to establish TMTG’s proprietary rights. The results of any current or future litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, and regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on TMTG because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.

TMTG may also be subject to a greater degree of stockholder derivative suits and other matters than is typical for a public company by individuals or entities that become stockholders that are opposed to any initiative undertaken by TMTG’s Chairman.

Employees

As of March 31, 2022, TMTG had approximately 40 full-time employees.

Facilities and Office Space

TMTG’s principal place of business is 401 North Cattlemen Road, Suite 200, Sarasota, Florida 34232. TMTG leases 10,776 square feet of office space at this location.

 

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PERSON TRANSACTIONS

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Digital World

On January 20, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 2,875,000 Founder Shares (which were subsequently subject to a three-for-one stock split, resulting in the Sponsor holding 8,625,000 Founder Shares) to the Sponsor and directors and officers of Digital World for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash, or approximately $0.0086 per share. As of July 2, 2021, the Sponsor transferred 10,000 Founder Shares to our Chief Financial Officer and 7,500 Founder Shares to each of our independent directors. On August 18, 2021, 7,500 Founder Shares were returned to the Sponsor from a former director nominee. On September 2, 2021, the Sponsor surrendered an aggregate of 1,437,500 Founder Shares for no consideration, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Fonder Shares outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 937,500 Founder Shares held by the Sponsor are subject to forfeiture to the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. On September 8, 2021, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment in full and as a result, no Founder Shares are subject to forfeiture. The number of Founder Shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of the Digital World IPO (excluding the representative shares and the Placement Units and underlying securities). The Founder Shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

On September 8, 2021, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 1,133,484 Placement Units for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $11,334,840, in a Private Placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of the Digital World IPO. The Placement Units (including underlying securities) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

Commencing September 2021, we paid Benessere Enterprises Inc., an affiliate of the Sponsor, a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Other than the foregoing, no compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our Sponsor, officers and directors, or any affiliate of our Sponsor or officers, prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. We do not have a policy that prohibits our Sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, from negotiating for the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses by a target business. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our Sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Prior to the consummation of Digital World IPO, on December 11, 2020, the Sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to Digital World, pursuant to which Digital World may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000, of which $0 was outstanding under the promissory note as of September 30, 2021. The note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) September 30, 2021 or (ii) the consummation of Digital World IPO.

If we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate an initial business combination by September 8, 2022, we may, by resolution of our board if requested by the Sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate an initial business combination up to two times, each by an additional three months (up to March 8, 2023), subject to the Sponsor depositing additional funds into the Trust Account as set out below. Pursuant to the terms

 

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of Digital World Charter and the trust agreement entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, in order for the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination to be extended, the Sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon five business days’ advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the Trust Account $2,875,000 ($0.10 per unit), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each of the available three month extensions, providing a total possible business combination period of 18 months at a total payment value of $5,750,000 ($0.20 per unit). Any such payments would be made in the form of non-interest bearing loans. If we complete an initial business combination, we will, at the option of the Sponsor, repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us or convert a portion or all of the total loan amount into Extension Units at a price of $10.00 per unit, which units will be identical to the Placement Units. If we do not complete an initial business combination, we will repay such loans only from funds held outside of the Trust Account. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our Sponsor, directors and officers contains a provision pursuant to which the Sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans to the extent there is insufficient funds held outside of the Trust Account in the event that we do not complete an initial business combination. The Sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the Trust Account to extend the time for us to complete an initial business combination.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the Sponsor or its affiliate or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used for such repayment. As of May 10, 2022, Digital World had not obtained any working capital loan. Pursuant to an amended letter agreement dated May 12, 2022, up to $30,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into units (which we refer to in this prospectus as Working Capital Units) at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The additional Working Capital Units beyond the Working Capital Units underlying the initial $1,500,000 in working capital loans as described in the Digital World’s IPO prospectus will only be issuable upon the approval of Digital World’s stockholders. The Working Capital Units would be identical to the Placement Units. The terms of such working capital loans by the Sponsor or its affiliates, or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the Combined Entity with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the Founder Shares, the Placement Units, the Working Capital Units (if any), the Extension Units (if any) and the securities underlying the foregoing and upon conversion of the Founder Shares.

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—TMTG

License Agreement

TMTG has entered into a royalty-free license agreement with President Trump and DTTM Operations, LLC, an entity that licenses President Trump’s name and regulates his personal media assets. Under the license agreement, as amended, TMTG has a royalty-free license to use “Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.” as our name and certain specified domain names. In addition, TMTG has a royalty-free license to use the name and likeness of President Trump, subject to certain limitations.

From December 22, 2021, until the expiration of 18 months thereafter, (the “TMTG Social Media Exclusivity Term”), President Trump has agreed to first channel any and all social media communications and

 

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posts coming from his personal profile to the TruthSocial platform before posting that same social media communication and/or post to any other social media platform that is not TruthSocial (collectively, “Non-TMTG Social Media”) until the expiration of “DJT/TMTG Social Media 6-Hour Exclusive” which means the period commencing when DJT posts any social media communication onto the Truth Social Platform and ending six (6) hours thereafter; provided that he may post social media communications from his personal profile that specifically relates to political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the vote efforts at any time on any Non-TMTG social media platforms. Unless notice is given, the TMTG Social Media Exclusivity Term extends in perpetuity for additional 180-day terms. In the event of a force majeure as described in the License Agreement that lasts longer than 30 days, President Trump shall have the right to invoke the suspension of the “DJT/TMTG Social Media 6-Hour Exclusive.” If the Social Media Exclusivity Term were to expire but the License Agreement remained in effect, President Trump would be required to post contemporaneously to TruthSocial and Non-TMTG Social Media.

With respect to TMTG+ or a TMTG podcasting platform, if President Trump receives a bona fide offer to be featured on any non-TMTG streaming video production or on any non-TMTG podcast platform, TMTG has the right to create a substantially similar video production or podcast opportunity on terms more favorable than those offered by the non-TMTG service providers subject to the terms of the Amended and Restated License Agreement. President Trump has agreed not to compete with TruthSocial for his own benefit, except as described above, and may not have an ownership interest in any business that would be competitive with TruthSocial, TMTG+, or a TMTG podcasting platform.

Subject to certain limitations, the License Agreement shall remain in full force and effect for three years from September 23, 2021. If, during such term, TMTG becomes listed on a public market exchange in the United States via, inter alia, the Business Combination, the License Agreement shall continue in perpetuity until terminated by TMTG. However, in the event that the Business Combination is not completed on or before December 31, 2022 (or a subsequent date mutually agreed upon by President Trump and TMTG), President Trump has the right to terminate the License Agreement. TMTG may not terminate the License Agreement based on the personal or political conduct of President Trump, even if such conduct could negatively reflect on TMTG’s reputation or brand or be considered offensive, dishonest, illegal, immoral, or unethical, or otherwise harmful to TMTG’s brand or reputation.

Voting Agreement

Simultaneously with the execution of the Merger Agreement the majority stockholder of TMTG entered into a voting agreement with Digital World and TMTG.

Lock-Up Agreements

In connection with the Closing, (i) certain senior executive officers of TMTG who own shares of TMTG and (ii) stockholders of TMTG who own more than 10% of the issued and outstanding shares of TMTG stock immediately prior to the Effective Time shall enter into a lock-up agreement with Digital World and the Sponsor.

 

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MANAGEMENT

Executive Officers and Directors

Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, the business and affairs of New Digital World will be managed by or under the direction of the New Digital World Board. It is expected that the directors and executive officers of New Digital World upon the consummation of the Business Combination will include the following:

Executive Officers

 

Name    Age     

Position(s)

President Donald J. Trump

     75      Chairman of the Board(2)

Devin G. Nunes

     48      Chief Executive Officer

Phillip Juhan

     47      Chief Financial Officer

Andrew Northwall

     35      Chief Operating Officer

William (B.J.) Lawson

     48      Chief Technology Officer
      Director(1)
      Independent Director(1)
      Independent Director(2)
      Independent Director(2)
      Independent Director(2)

 

(1)

Digital World Designee

(2)

TMTG Designee.

Non-Employee Directors

President Donald J. Trump, TMTG’s Chairman and Director, served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 after defeating more than a dozen seasoned opponents during the 2016 primaries to win the Republican nomination for the presidency. President Trump’s campaign was notable for his innovative use of social media, and he was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2016. As the nation’s chief executive, President Trump—among many other accomplishments—spearheaded a major tax reform bill; nominated three Supreme Court Justices who were confirmed by the Senate; established the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces; and signed into law the First Step Act, which addressed mass incarceration at the federal level and passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. Through his pro-American policies on trade, taxes, energy, regulation, immigration, and healthcare, President Trump ushered in a period of unprecedented economic growth, job creation, soaring wages, and booming incomes. By restoring America’s prestige and advancing a policy of principled realism, President Trump forged historic peace agreements in the Middle East, withdrew troops from endless conflicts, confronted oppressive communist and socialist regimes, advanced stability around the world, and strengthened the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other international alliances and partnerships by getting other nations to contribute their fair share. President Trump earlier served as president of the Trump Organization. Under President Trump’s leadership, the Trump Organization was involved in a myriad of projects both in the United States and abroad, including hotels, resorts, residential and commercial buildings, casinos, and golf courses. In 2007, President Trump was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honor his work as a Miss Universe pageant producer while co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization. In 2004, “The Apprentice” debuted on network television, co-produced by and starring President Trump, and ran for fourteen seasons. President Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 with a B.S. degree in economics. As a result of his vast business experience and his former role as president of the United States, President Trump embodies an iconic brand and brings invaluable entrepreneurial and leadership skills to our board.

Devin G. Nunes, TMTG’s Chief Executive Officer, previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly two decades. He was the Republican leader and former Chairman of the House Permanent Select

 

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Committee on Intelligence, a senior Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, and the Republican leader of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. Mr. Nunes was a vital contributor to the 2017 tax system overhaul, authoring a key provision to allow same-year expensing of all business investments for entrepreneurs and businesses. He also championed telemedicine to improve healthcare in underserved, rural areas. In his role on the Intelligence Committee, Mr. Nunes spent extensive time overseas working with U.S. military personnel, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials, and world leaders while promoting freedom and democratic values around the globe. During his time in Congress, many regarded Mr. Nunes as the House of Representatives’ preeminent investigator of government malfeasance and corruption; he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, in 2021. Mr. Nunes graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and a master’s degree in agriculture. He is the author of “Restoring the Republic” and “Countdown to Socialism,” and was an early and prominent critic of Big Tech censorship. Mr. Nunes’s leadership experience, familiarity with public scrutiny, and media savvy add unique and significant value to both the Company and our board.

Phillip Juhan, TMTG’s Chief Financial Officer, has over 20 years of progressive experience in both finance and entrepreneurial leadership roles. From March 2020 until July 2021, Mr. Juhan served as the Chief Financial Officer of Town Sports International Holdings, Inc., a public company listed on the Nasdaq (CLUBQ) which owned and operated fitness clubs in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, as well as in California, Florida, Puerto Rico, and Switzerland. During this time, Mr. Juhan led an organizational restructuring by optimizing the company’s portfolio of assets and recapitalizing the balance sheet, raising $100 million of fresh capital to position the company for a post-pandemic recovery. From August 2018 until his appointment as CFO, Mr. Juhan was Vice President of Business Operations for Town Sports. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Juhan was as an officer of B.L.K., Inc., a restaurant operating company. From 2002 to 2014, Mr. Juhan worked in the Investment Banking Divisions of Prudential Financial and the Bank of Montreal, where he led consumer focused research within the Financial Services (Real Estate, Gaming and Lodging) and Consumer (Broadlines Retail and Restaurants) sectors. Mr. Juhan attended the US Air Force Academy where he earned the Western Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete Award while playing football for the Falcons. In 1998, he graduated magna cum laude from The Georgia Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Science in Management with a concentration in Finance. TMTG believes that Mr. Juhan’s vast experience in evaluating business operations, financial results, valuations, and strategic alternatives for companies across a diverse group of industries makes him a valuable member of our management team.

Andrew Northwall, TMTG’s Chief Operating Officer, is a successful entrepreneur with over fifteen years’ experience building and maintaining high-availability web applications and technologies for government affairs and political organizations. He previously served as Chief Architect at Parler, a free-speech-focused social networking service, to help restore Parler to functionality after it was cut off from the Internet by a consortium of Big Tech companies. Mr. Northwall also worked extensively with successful political campaigns, government entities, and non-profits as a senior leader of EZPolitix, Northwall Strategies, and NorthStar Campaign Systems. Mr. Northwall graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He oversees general business operations and work with TMTG’s technologists to successfully develop and maintain products. We believe Mr. Northwall’s political, entrepreneurial, and operational experience will add value to our company.

William (B.J.) Lawson, TMTG’s Chief Technology Officer, is an experienced technologist and entrepreneur. He previously supported the TruthSocial launch as Chief Technology Officer of a global internet infrastructure company committed to American principles online. He has over twenty years’ experience developing mobile applications, as well as scaling databases and web applications. Mr. Lawson received his engineering and medical degrees from Duke University and began training as a neurosurgeon before entering the business world. He subsequently served as a founder of MercuryMD, Inc., which was dedicated to making patient information accessible to clinicians on mobile devices at the point of care and was acquired by Thomson Corporation in 2006. Mr. Lawson oversees all aspects of infrastructure, systems, and product development for TMTG, and brings to TMTG a distinguished track record growing technology-focused startups.

 

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Board of Directors

The Combined Entity’s board of directors, upon the closing of the Business Combination, will consist of seven members, including TMTG’s President and Chief Executive Officer. In accordance with the Amended Charter to be filed, immediately after the consummation of the Business Combination, the board of directors of New Digital World will be divided into three classes, Classes I, II and III, each to serve a three year term, except for the initial term after the Closing, for which the Class I directors will be up for reelection at the first annual meeting of stockholders occurring after the Closing, and for which the Class II directors will be up for reelection at the second annual meeting of stockholders occurring after the Closing. At each annual meeting of stockholders, the successors to directors whose terms then expire will be elected to serve from the time of election and qualification until the third annual meeting following the election. Directors will not be able to be removed during their term except for cause, and then only by the affirmative vote of only by the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two thirds (2/3) of the outstanding shares of capital stock then entitled to vote at an election of directors. The directors will be divided among the three classes as follows:

 

   

the Class I directors will be              and              , and their terms will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2023;

 

   

the Class II directors will be              and             , and their terms will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2024; and

 

   

the Class III directors will be              and             , and their terms will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2025.

The Combined Entity expects that any additional directorships resulting from an increase in the number of directors will be distributed among the three classes so that, as nearly as possible, each class will consist of one-third of the directors. The division of the board of directors into three classes with staggered three-year terms may delay or prevent a change of our management or a change in control.

Director Independence

Under the listing requirements and rules of Nasdaq, independent directors must comprise a majority of a listed company’s board of directors and of certain board committees. Following the Business Combination, the Combined Entity’s board of directors will review the composition of the board and committees of the Combined Entity and the independence of each director.

Committees of the Board of Directors

The Combined Entity’s board of directors will have the authority to appoint committees to perform certain management and administration functions. Digital World’s current board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee, and a nominating and corporate governance committee. The composition and responsibilities of each committee are described below. Members will serve on these committees until their resignation or until otherwise determined by the board of directors. Following the Closing, the charters for each of these committees will be available on the Combined Entity’s website.

Audit Committee

The audit committee of the board of directors of the Combined Entity is expected to consist of , and . Digital World Board has determined each proposed member is independent under the Nasdaq listing standards and Rule 10A-3(b)(1) under the Exchange Act. The chairperson of the audit committee is expected to be . also qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as such term is defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K and possesses financial sophistication, as defined under the rules of Nasdaq.

 

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The primary purpose of the audit committee is to discharge the responsibilities of the board of directors with respect to our accounting, financial, and other reporting and internal control practices and to oversee our independent registered accounting firm. Specific responsibilities of our audit committee include: