Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent firm of his Truth social media outlet, is merging with TAE Technologies, a nuclear fusion power company, in a deal valued at $6 billion.
The unusual pairing is expected to close in the middle of next year and will give shareholders of both companies equal ownership of the combined entity. The merged company will result in what the companies are calling “one of the world’s first publicly traded fusion companies.”
As part of the transaction, TMTG has agreed to provide up to $200 million of cash to TAE, with another $100 million possible at a future date. Devin Nunes, TMTG Chairman and CEO, and Dr. Michl Binderbauer, TAE CEO and Director, plan to serve as Co-CEOs of the combined company.
Upon closing, TMTG will be the holding company for Truth Social, Truth+, Truth.Fi, TAE, TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences, among others, the companies said.
Trump Media shares spiked on the news, climbing more than 20% in pre-market trading to $12.58. That's still well short of the company's 52-week high of $43.46. Trump indirectly owns more than 114 million shares of Trump Media, with that majority stake held in a revocable trust that is run by his son Donald Trump, Jr.
Next year, TAE announced, the combined company plans to begin construction on a utility-scale fusion power plant "subject to required approvals,” with additional plants already being planned.
TMTG has been expanding beyond its social media roots in the past year, branching into the financial services sector in late January with the launch of Trump.Fi, which focuses on exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrencies.
"We’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations," Nunes said in a statement. "Fusion power will be the most dramatic energy breakthrough since the onset of commercial nuclear energy in the 1950s — an innovation that will lower energy prices, boost supply, ensure America’s A.I.-supremacy, revive our manufacturing base and bolster national defense."
Scientists say nuclear fusion could represent a tremendous transformation in both providing widespread energy with virtually no greenhouse gases or carbon emissions. However, the timeline for true breakthroughs in the space remains uncertain. Scientists have replicated ignition (the process of getting more energy out than they put in), but commercial-grade fusion is still widely thought to be decades away.