The threat of a last-minute obstacle to the merger of former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company and a cash-rich shell company appears to have subsided.
Two early founders of Trump Media & Technology Group reached a temporary truce with Mr. Trump’s company at a hearing on Saturday morning in Delaware Court of Chancery. The agreement would preserve the two founders’ right to a significant equity stake in the parent company of Truth Social until a judge hears further arguments on the merits of their lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 28 by a company controlled by Wes Moss and Andy Litinsky, had the potential to delay a scheduled March 22 vote by shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. on the long-delayed merger with Trump Media.
If shareholders approve the merger, it would give Trump Media more than $300 million in badly needed cash to keep operating. The deal would also boost Mr. Trump’s net worth by more than $3 billion, based on Digital World’s current stock price.
“No one is suggesting I should do anything to interfere with the closing,” Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of Delaware Chancery Court said of the shareholder vote. He later added, “I’m pretty confident we can work something out.”
The agreement was reached just days after another Delaware Chancery Court judge refused to delay the merger in response to a lawsuit filed by a company controlled by Patrick Orlando, the former chief executive officer of Digital World and the original sponsor of the shell company known as a special purpose acquisition company.
