A combination between Digital World Acquisition Corporation and Donald Trump’s social media business was approved by shareholders on Friday. The acquisition may eventually bring in $3 billion or more for the former president.

About 2.5 years have passed since the so-called special purpose acquisition business declared its intention to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, the private company that runs the Truth Social app platform. This is when DWAC shareholders will cast their vote.

It also coincides with the prospect that Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, would attempt to collect on a substantial $454 million civil fraud judgement against Trump on Monday.

Next week, shares of the merged firm, Trump Media, may go on public trading under DJT, which stands for Donald Trump’s initials.

The defunct Trump casino and hotel chain used that ticker sign as well.

After the shareholder vote on Friday, the price of DWAC’s shares dropped by as much as 12%. Any decline in the price of DWAC’s shares would have an impact on the value of Trump’s shares in the combined business.

The voting schedule was unaffected by a number of lawsuits filed recently regarding the merger’s terms, but they may eventually have an impact on the distribution of shares to those who were instrumental in initiating the merger in late 2021.

Nearly 80 million shares of the combined business would belong to Trump.

That would be worth at least $3 billion at Friday’s opening share price of DWAC, however it’s unclear what the combined company’s opening share price will be.

Despite being enormous, Trump’s prospective windfall would not materialise right away, at least not under the current configuration of the agreement. There is no assurance that the price at which Trump Media shares trade will remain the same as it did for DWAC prior to the merger, and Trump will not be allowed to sell shares in the combined business for at least six months.

It’s feasible that the board of directors will decide to approve Trump’s prior share sales. A list of anticipated nominations suggests that individuals close to Trump may be added to the board, such as his son Donald Trump Jr., former executive Linda McMahon of the WWE, and Trump’s former trade envoy Robert Lighthizer.

Assuming the board approves the easing of the share lock-up period, Trump, the presumed Republican contender for president this year, may soon have access to a sizable stream of funding.

In addition to damage awards over half a billion dollars in three different civil instances, Trump is currently facing enormous legal fees from his lawyers in both criminal and civil proceedings.

In an attempt to overturn the case’s ruling, Trump earlier this week requested that a New York appeals court grant a stay of the $454 million fraud judgement. His request has not yet been decided by that court.

In a court document, Trump’s attorneys claimed that their client lacked sufficient funds to put up as collateral with bond companies in order to obtain a bond that would secure the judgement and stop James from collecting.

However, Trump asserts that “I currently have almost five hundred million in cash” in a Truth Social post from Friday.

(Adapted from CNN.com)