Trump Media & Technology will merge with the fusion power company in an all-stock deal valued at more than $6 billion, the companies announced Thursday.
Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, who resigned in 2021 to become CEO of Trump Media, will be co-CEO of the new company with TAE Technologies CEO Michelle Binderbauer.
The combined company said it plans to find a site and begin construction next year for “the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant” to provide the power needed for artificial intelligence.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology, the parent company of President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth, have fallen 70% this year, but were up 20% before Thursday’s opening bell.
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TAE, backed by Google and other investors, is a privately held company whose merger with Trump Media will create one of the first publicly traded fusion companies.
“We are taking a major step toward innovative technologies that will solidify America’s global energy dominance for generations,” Nunes said in a prepared statement.
TAE focuses on fusion, a technique that combines two lighter atomic nuclei to form one heavier atomic nucleus. According to the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency, this is a process that also occurs on the Sun and other stars, and releases enormous amounts of energy. Although this is seen as a promising solution to climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels, it is a far cry compared to today’s clean technologies such as wind and solar.
TAE and Trump Media shareholders will each own approximately 50% of the combined company.
Trump is Trump Media’s largest shareholder, holding 41% of all outstanding shares.
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In October, the U.S. Department of Energy released what it called a fusion technology “roadmap” aimed at fostering “a burgeoning civilian fusion industry in the United States toward maturity in the earliest possible timeline.” A number of technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have expressed interest in convergence technologies as a way to power the energy-intensive data centers needed to build and run their AI products.
According to TAE and Trump Media, the transaction values TAE common stock at $53.89 per share.
Upon closing, Trump Media & Technology Group, along with its subsidiaries TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences, will become the holding company for Truth Social and TAE.
