Trump’s social media company can go public following merger [Video]

Donald Trump is returning to the stock market.

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded shell company, approved a deal to merge with the former president’s media business in a Friday vote. That means Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is social networking site Truth Social, will soon begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market.

Trump could receive a sizable payout in the process. He would own most of the combined company — or nearly 79 million shares. Multiply that by Digital World’s closing stock price Thursday of $42.81, and the total value of Trump’s stake could surpass $3 billion. The shares did fall 5% after the merger approval was announced.

The deal’s greenlight arrives at a time the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is facing his most costly legal battle to date: a $454 million judgment in a fraud lawsuit.

But Trump won’t be able to cash out the Friday deal’s windfall immediately, unless …