DWAC shares once surged more than 90% in premarket trading

Digital World Acquisition shares once surged more than 90% in premarket trading.

Shares of Digital World Acquisition soared 357% on Thursday after the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) announced a deal to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group.

Trump Media and Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition Corp , a Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle, said on Wednesday here they would merge to create a new social media app called TRUTH Social.

The unveiling of the new company comes after Mr. Trump’s access to several social-media platforms including Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. was restricted following the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. He held discussions with a number of different platforms throughout the year to find a new online megaphone. Mr. Trump had nearly 89 million followers on Twitter.

People close to the former president, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Trump has sought to set up his own social media company since leaving the White House. The Republican former president, contemplating another run for the White House in 2024, has been frustrated that he does not have a direct and unfiltered connection with his millions of followers after Twitter and Facebook barred him, these people said.

“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable," Trump said in a written statement included in the release.

"I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I'm excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech," he said.

The social network, set for a beta launch next month and full rollout in the first quarter of 2022, is the first of three stages in the company's plans, followed by a subscription video-on-demand service called TMTG+ that will feature entertainment, news and podcasts, according to the news release.

In a slide deck on its website, the company envisions eventually competing against Amazon.com's AWS cloud service and Google Cloud.