Donald Trump’s new social media firm and his acquisition partner said the partner has signed deals for $ 1 billion in capital with institutional investors.

The former president launched his new business, Trump Media & Technology Group, in October. He unveiled plans for a new messaging app called “Truth Social” to compete with Twitter and other social media platforms that banned it following the Jan.6 uprising on the United States Capitol.

TMTG’s plan is to become a publicly traded company through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company whose sole purpose is to acquire and bring in a private company. in stock exchange.

Institutional investors were not identified in a statement released on Saturday by Trump Media and Digital World. The money would come from “a diverse group” of investors after the two companies merge, he said.

Digital World said in the statement that the $ 1 billion was more than the $ 293 million (minus expenses) it could invest.

“I have no doubts that TMTG can effectively deploy this capital to accelerate and strengthen the execution of its business, including continuing to attract the best talent, hire the best technology providers, and deploy significant advertising campaigns and business development, ”said Patrick Orlando, CEO of Digital World. said in the press release.

Trump is listed as chairman of TMTG. He will get tens of millions of free shares if the merged company performs well, handing the former president perhaps billions of dollars in paper wealth.