As the company waits for regulatory approval for a merger that comes with a financial lifeline, former President Donald Trump's Truth Social conducted layoffs that affected about half a dozen employees.
Truth Social Layoffs
Truth Social was launched last year and it has been former President Donald Trump's special network of choice ever since he was banned from social networking sites like Twitter and suspended from Meta Platform's Facebook and Instagram, which comes after the Capitol insurrection last January 6, 2021.
One year since its launch, Trump Media & Technology Group has reportedly trimmed Truth Social's workforce. According to Bloomberg's report, the layoffs affected half a dozen of employees, including senior members of the company like Chief Technology Officer William BJ Lawson.
This is the third time that the company replaced its CTO. Both Lawson and Trump Media did not release or announce a statement regarding this matter as this news was announced by the company internally.
Reducing its workforce comes as Trump Media awaits the uncertain approval of the regulators regarding the company's merger with Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which is a blank-check company.
In February, the company's general counsel already sent a letter to Congress asking to investigate the US Securities and Exchange Commission's review of the deal. The letter wrote, "The endless investigation of the DWAC-TMTG merger clearly constitutes an unprecedented attempt to kill the deal without any finding of wrongdoing."
Company's Revenue
The executives of the company were once optimistic regarding the company's advertising revenue and its potential to grow in the market, especially during the United States midterm elections. But this expectation led to disappointment as the company experienced setbacks and complications.
The Verge reported that Truth Social faced several tech and legal problems that could doom the social media platform. The platform's stalled SPAC has been delayed, which was planned to publicly trade shares in the company without an IPO. This leaves Digital World Acquisition Corporation in a problematic position.
According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Truth Social lost over $6 million in the first half of 2022 and it has not generated any revenue. The company only holds $293 million in a trust that houses most of its assets.
Because of these problems, Truth Social has stopped paying some of its financial responsibilities, including the conservative internet infrastructure company RightForge. Axios reported that the company owes them at least $1.6 million in backdated payments.
Rightforge Chief Executive Officer Martin Avila stated that the company is committed to servicing the application. But the company could lose its hosting services because of the given circumstances.