Jeff Yass, a billionaire Republican megadonor, was the biggest institutional shareholder of a shell company that merged with former President Donald Trump’s social media company last week, according to the New York Times.
A December filing shows that Yass’ firm Susquehanna International Group owned 2% of Digital World Acquisition Corp., which on Friday merged with Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social. The stake was worth about $22 million based on the last closing price, according to the report.
It’s unclear if the firm still owns those shares, but if it does, it would make it one of Trump Media’s biggest institutional shareholders following the merger, according to the Times.
“Susquehanna is a market maker and has zero economic interest in Trump Media,” the company said in a statement. “The firm’s long position is offset by short positions of the same size.”
Filings show that the firm used offsetting securities to try to minimize its gains or losses in the stock, according to the report.
Yass is also a major shareholder in ByteDance, which owns TikTok. The House earlier this month voted to force the company to sell TikTok. Trump, who previously supported banning TikTok in the U.S., reversed his stance ahead of the bill shortly after a meeting with Yass, though he said the two never discussed TikTok.
A source close to Trump’s campaign told the Times that Yass was expected to give a large donation to a group backing Trump but Yass through a spokesperson said he has never donated to Trump and has no plans to do so.
