NEW YORK — Stock in a company planning to buy Donald Trump’s new social media business plunged Monday on a news report that two key staff members left and a regulatory filing that it will miss a key deadline to file its annual financial statements.
Digital World Acquisition Corp. dropped more than 10% in midday trading on a Reuters report that Josh Adams and Billy Boozer — the company’s chiefs of technology and product development— had left the company, citing two anonymous sources.
The company’s CEO is former Congressman Devin Nunes of Tulare, California. Nunes resigned his seat in the House early this year to head up Trump’s new company.
That report followed a filing by the company last week stating that its accountants needed more time to review financial figures before filing its annual report.
Related Story: Trump Social Media Brand Led by Devin Nunes Sinks Like a Rock
Outages, Long Waitlists for Truth Social
Many public companies request filing extensions, but the news added to investor jitters fueled by the botched February launch of Trump’s Truth Social app, which was marred by outages and long waitlists to gain access.
The stock fell to $56.50, down more than a third over the past month.
The Truth Social app topped Apple’s App Store free rankings on the day it was made available to a limited set of subscribers in February. Since then, it has tumbled down the charts and is no longer in the top 200.
Digital World is planning to buy Trump’s new social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group. Digital World needs regulators to sign off on its deal to merge with Trump Media to access the more than $1 billion that the former U.S. president had helped line up to fund the business.
Regulators are investigating Digital World following reports it may have broken security rules last year.
