The social media equivalent of Trump Steaks?
October 15, 2022 4:59 PM Subscribe
The Washington Post just dropped a story [gift link] on the behind-the-scenes infighting inside Truth Social and it's SPAC. Will Wilkerson has come forward with documentation on how Trump tried to pressure the group into giving equity to Melania, and how Don Jr. and Eric tried to muscle in as well. Digital World Acquisition Corp, the SPAC that will supposedly fund Truth Social has not been doing well financially, and Truth Social is far below its desired subscriber count.
I'm only about halfway through the WP article, but there is SO MUCH in there -
SO much questionable behavior - and some of it, apparently, highly illegal.
I am so fascinated by insider reports like this, and I doubt I would have seen this if you hadn't posted it. Thank you so much for sharing this, CheeseDigestsAll!
posted by kristi at 5:59 PM on October 15, 2022 [18 favorites]
Investors, discouraged by the halted merger, have sent the SPAC’s share price plunging from a high of $175 to less than $18 on Friday.It just goes on and on.
...
Over cheeseburgers, Diet Cokes and ice cream, the men offered to build Trump a media company that he would own 90 percent of without putting in any of his own money, Wilkerson said.
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Raising money, however, proved to be a major challenge. The investment bankers they called rejected them because of fears over Trump’s post-election behavior, Wilkerson said.
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Trump’s adult sons — Donald Jr. and Eric — began asking for large stakes in the company, Wilkerson said, even though they had been almost entirely uninvolved. “They were coming in and asking for a handout,” Wilkerson said. “They had no bearing in this company … and they were taking equity away from hard-working individuals.”
...
Moss and Litinsky were further unnerved when Orlando routed roughly $8 million into Trump Media, via an unknown group called the ES Family Trust, but refused to say where it had come from, Wilkerson said. Their previous investments had come from people they knew, but this money appeared to have been routed from a bank in the Caribbean island of Dominica through a cryptocurrency company ...
...
Company filings show Nunes is paid a base salary of $750,000 a year that could increase to $1 million in the second year, plus bonuses and equity. He had no prior experience leading a tech company.
SO much questionable behavior - and some of it, apparently, highly illegal.
I am so fascinated by insider reports like this, and I doubt I would have seen this if you hadn't posted it. Thank you so much for sharing this, CheeseDigestsAll!
posted by kristi at 5:59 PM on October 15, 2022 [18 favorites]
I don't know why, but I'm always surprised how many people can see how everything Trump touches turns to shit, and think, " Gee, I want some of that action!"“RIP to everyone killed by the gods for their hubris but im different. and better. maybe even better than the gods”
All these hero-pose photos of Wilkerson, who says “We weren’t trying to be Trump Org 2.0 … We always saw Trump as the rocket fuel to send this thing to space” as though the Tr**p Crime Family would be satisfied to not personally run it into the ground in exchange for a measly 90%.
posted by migurski at 6:06 PM on October 15, 2022 [12 favorites]
Orlando brought his own issues. In June 2021, he’d raised tensions when he sent Trump a birthday letter in which he devoted hundreds of words to Trump’s “thought leadership” and “quick and genius guidance” during a recent meeting discussing the company’s name and logo.
“I was unaware of the extent of your brilliance,” Orlando had written. “On your birthday, my only wish is that you realize how proud we are of your successes to date.” The letter agitated the co-founders, Wilkerson said, who found it mawkish and overly familiar.
Translation:
"Look, we're trying to do fascism or at least get rich trying, but let's not be mawkish and overly familiar about it. Geez. We've got standards, you know."
Wilkerson has expressed sharply critical views of Nunes’ leadership of the company. He told The Post that, in Nunes’ first days at the office, Nunes began exhorting workers to come in early and stay late and berating company officials over what he saw as flawed decision-making. Wilkerson added that he believed this fueled acrimony among the company’s more established employees.
Translation:
"It's important to respect employees' work-life balance when they're trying to install open fascism in the United States of America. This disrespect for work-life balance is where I draw the line."
Wilkerson said he hopes that by speaking out he will help protect the company’s shareholders from possible harm.
Dude. You're no Eugene Goodman.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:06 PM on October 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
“I was unaware of the extent of your brilliance,” Orlando had written. “On your birthday, my only wish is that you realize how proud we are of your successes to date.” The letter agitated the co-founders, Wilkerson said, who found it mawkish and overly familiar.
Translation:
"Look, we're trying to do fascism or at least get rich trying, but let's not be mawkish and overly familiar about it. Geez. We've got standards, you know."
Wilkerson has expressed sharply critical views of Nunes’ leadership of the company. He told The Post that, in Nunes’ first days at the office, Nunes began exhorting workers to come in early and stay late and berating company officials over what he saw as flawed decision-making. Wilkerson added that he believed this fueled acrimony among the company’s more established employees.
Translation:
"It's important to respect employees' work-life balance when they're trying to install open fascism in the United States of America. This disrespect for work-life balance is where I draw the line."
Wilkerson said he hopes that by speaking out he will help protect the company’s shareholders from possible harm.
Dude. You're no Eugene Goodman.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:06 PM on October 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
Needs thescorpionandthefrog tag.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:16 PM on October 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:16 PM on October 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
In case you missed out and still want to invest some money in TMTG, here's the pitch deck from last fall.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:16 PM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:16 PM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
'I never thought leopards would eat MY face!'
posted by Toddles at 6:30 PM on October 15, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Toddles at 6:30 PM on October 15, 2022 [6 favorites]
Seems to me that the whole point behind MAGA has really been to collect together a large pool of the gullible to grift upon
posted by mbo at 6:44 PM on October 15, 2022 [30 favorites]
posted by mbo at 6:44 PM on October 15, 2022 [30 favorites]
DWAC the SPAC.
I have nothing further to add.
posted by dumbland at 8:02 PM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have nothing further to add.
posted by dumbland at 8:02 PM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
...and Truth Social is far below its desired subscriber count.
I imagine so long as one particular subscriber is free to post as much as he wants, Truth has hit its actual “desired subscriber count.”
posted by Thorzdad at 8:23 PM on October 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
I imagine so long as one particular subscriber is free to post as much as he wants, Truth has hit its actual “desired subscriber count.”
posted by Thorzdad at 8:23 PM on October 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
Over cheeseburgers, Diet Cokes and ice cream
and balloons and streamers and a bouncy castle, and pointy hats and whistles that go VROOOOOOOO
posted by adept256 at 9:01 PM on October 15, 2022 [14 favorites]
and balloons and streamers and a bouncy castle, and pointy hats and whistles that go VROOOOOOOO
posted by adept256 at 9:01 PM on October 15, 2022 [14 favorites]
here's the pitch deck from last fall
OMG, that is so generic and useless. Any self-respecting PM in silicon valley could do a better deck than that in a few hours without even knowing what the company was supposed to do.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:29 PM on October 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
OMG, that is so generic and useless. Any self-respecting PM in silicon valley could do a better deck than that in a few hours without even knowing what the company was supposed to do.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:29 PM on October 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
My understanding is that as long as the SPAC share price stays above ~$10, it means someone still thinks the SPAC merger will happen (a dubious proposition at this point), and that the post-merge company will be worth more than the SPAC acquisition value (who knows, "worth" here has no relationship to reality).
I'm legitimately surprised they built a platform that can support one or two million monthly users (though maybe that's something you can just throw money at a cloud hosting company to achieve these days). To paraphrase and misquote Matt Levine, it would have been so much easier to *not* build all that infrastructure and just fake it until the merger closed.
I'm even more surprised that people are still willing to get into business with Trump (face eating leopards, etc).
posted by apeship at 11:48 PM on October 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm legitimately surprised they built a platform that can support one or two million monthly users (though maybe that's something you can just throw money at a cloud hosting company to achieve these days). To paraphrase and misquote Matt Levine, it would have been so much easier to *not* build all that infrastructure and just fake it until the merger closed.
I'm even more surprised that people are still willing to get into business with Trump (face eating leopards, etc).
posted by apeship at 11:48 PM on October 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Okay, I understood next to nothing about that article, it sounds like a sandcastle built from quicksand, but this whole business of the shares. Trump was given 90% of the shares but then asked a co-founder to give up some of his shares to Melania? If Melania wants in, why doesn’t Trump sign over some of his shares?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:06 AM on October 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:06 AM on October 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Because then Trump would have fewer shares, which obviously would be a Bad Thing, whereas Melania shares + Trump shares is more shares for Trump, which is a Good Thing, because Melania almost certainly doesn't actually want any shares or care about this at all.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:25 AM on October 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 5:25 AM on October 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I mean, having stuff "owned" by relatives on paper that they don't actually own in practice is like Mob Economics 101.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:30 AM on October 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 5:30 AM on October 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
Now I get it, it was never meant to be a bona fide business.
And Elon Musk actually had an original idea: instead of the awkward Truth Social, call it Trumpet.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:48 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
And Elon Musk actually had an original idea: instead of the awkward Truth Social, call it Trumpet.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:48 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
And Elon Musk actually had an original idea: instead of the awkward Truth Social, call it Trumpet.
It makes soooo much more sense to call it Trumpet, but I get the feeling Trump really just wanted to trademark a name with "Truth" in it.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:53 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
It makes soooo much more sense to call it Trumpet, but I get the feeling Trump really just wanted to trademark a name with "Truth" in it.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:53 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
And Elon Musk actually had an original idea: instead of the awkward Truth Social, call it Trumpet.
Twitter, surely?
posted by acb at 6:03 AM on October 16, 2022
Twitter, surely?
posted by acb at 6:03 AM on October 16, 2022
At this point, it seems like anyone who does business with trump is doing so not thinking they'll come out ahead somehow, but as a demonstration of their fealty. They want to get screwed over. The fact that these guys thought otherwise is just sad.
posted by adamrice at 6:28 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 6:28 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Since it sounds like most of actual tech work is being handled by another company (Rumble) this is an exercise in branding even without Trump but....
I get Trump's point that this social network wouldn't exist at all or have really any customers without his name attached it, so he's close to 100% of the reason it has any value at all, but more than 90% shares is just greedy, they need at least a few shares free to attract investors.
That bit about the mysterious 8million donation to Trump org that came in crypto from the Carribean and was washed through Truth Social is just icing. Original founders thought they were creating an actual product, not a shell company the Trumps could use for more money laundering.
posted by subdee at 7:29 AM on October 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
I get Trump's point that this social network wouldn't exist at all or have really any customers without his name attached it, so he's close to 100% of the reason it has any value at all, but more than 90% shares is just greedy, they need at least a few shares free to attract investors.
That bit about the mysterious 8million donation to Trump org that came in crypto from the Carribean and was washed through Truth Social is just icing. Original founders thought they were creating an actual product, not a shell company the Trumps could use for more money laundering.
posted by subdee at 7:29 AM on October 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
I like that the pitch is "you know those FAANG people? We're gonna be one of those things."
Also, what's the point of a SPAC aside from avoiding regulation?
posted by mmcg at 7:50 AM on October 16, 2022
Also, what's the point of a SPAC aside from avoiding regulation?
posted by mmcg at 7:50 AM on October 16, 2022
Avoiding regulation is (or rather, was *) a key advantage of SPACs. Go public without all the complicated IPO quiet period and months of SEC nitpicking. But SPACs have one key regulation: you can't form a SPAC with the company you're going to reverse-takeover already picked. That's like the one rule and it seems likely DWAC broke it. Which is under a serious SEC investigation which Wilkerson has just blown open. Better odds this particular fraud sticks to Trump than some of the other ones.
(*) SPACs have fallen out of fashion, in part because of market conditions and in part because it turns out that companies that want to go public without any scrutiny turn out... surprise! ... to not be very good investments.
posted by Nelson at 8:05 AM on October 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
(*) SPACs have fallen out of fashion, in part because of market conditions and in part because it turns out that companies that want to go public without any scrutiny turn out... surprise! ... to not be very good investments.
posted by Nelson at 8:05 AM on October 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Also you have to hand it to Trump, "I demand you give your stock to my wife and pay the gift tax on the transfer" is a pretty bold move. LBJ whipping out Jumbo levels of bold.
posted by Nelson at 8:12 AM on October 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Nelson at 8:12 AM on October 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Now I’m haunted by the thought that this… thing is, among many other terrible things, an attempt at an endlessly shareable viral “hit” to boost that garbage platform.
I mean, the petty veniality would be at least as much on-brand as the weaponized bigotry.
posted by non canadian guy at 9:09 AM on October 16, 2022
I mean, the petty veniality would be at least as much on-brand as the weaponized bigotry.
posted by non canadian guy at 9:09 AM on October 16, 2022
Also you have to hand it to Trump, "I demand you give your stock to my wife and pay the gift tax on the transfer" is a pretty bold move.
You can have my answer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:03 AM on October 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
You can have my answer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:03 AM on October 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Also you have to hand it to Trump,
issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the former president. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to him"
posted by General Malaise at 12:02 PM on October 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the former president. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to him"
posted by General Malaise at 12:02 PM on October 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
wrong tab
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:46 PM on October 16, 2022
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:46 PM on October 16, 2022
I find it hard to have any sympathy for someone who 'does the right thing' in the end, but only when it's clear the gravy train is about to derail. The article reads almost as if Wilkerson wrote it, with him as the central hero fighting the good fight against the forces of darkness incompetence. Not to mention the photos that could have come straight from Wilkerson's publicist...
'Truth Social ...encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation ...
At the moment, Truth Social is available for U.S. users only ...'
Hmmm.
posted by dg at 6:31 PM on October 16, 2022
'Truth Social ...encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation ...
At the moment, Truth Social is available for U.S. users only ...'
Hmmm.
posted by dg at 6:31 PM on October 16, 2022
You want Trump to give something of his.. to... Melania? I'm confused. I'm pretty sure they have a massive, NDA covered prenup to prevent that from ever happening.
posted by Jacen at 9:56 PM on October 16, 2022
posted by Jacen at 9:56 PM on October 16, 2022
I'm legitimately surprised they built a platform that can support one or two million monthly users
They didn't. It's just a Mastodon fork. And their initial deployment was pretty lolworthy.
posted by suetanvil at 9:35 AM on October 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
They didn't. It's just a Mastodon fork. And their initial deployment was pretty lolworthy.
posted by suetanvil at 9:35 AM on October 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
They didn't. It's just a Mastodon fork. And their initial deployment was pretty lolworthy.
Ahhhh I was giving them too much credit, thanks.
posted by apeship at 10:33 AM on October 17, 2022
Ahhhh I was giving them too much credit, thanks.
posted by apeship at 10:33 AM on October 17, 2022
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These stupid greedy fucks deserve to be shat on.
posted by 2N2222 at 5:56 PM on October 15, 2022 [26 favorites]