[ad_1]
Two years ago, Donald Trump, Jr. and Omeed Malik rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as renegades. They had just turned PublicSquare, a Yelp-like directory of conservative businesses, into a publicly traded company, marking the emergence of a movement rebelling against “woke-ism” with their wallets. When the pair returned on July 16, the environment on Wall Street had changed dramatically.
With Donald Trump back in power and waging war on corporate diversity initiatives, some of the nation’s largest companies have eliminated so-called DEI programs, from McDonald’s and Walmart to Boeing and Victoria’s Secret. But as Trump, Jr. and Malik launch the IPO of a PublicSquare partner—the online gun retailer GrabAGun—the two suspect corporate America may be adjusting to the political climate out of fear and expedience. In contrast, they aim to build a lasting infrastructure for the MAGA economy. “I think what separates us from them is: Where are they going to be in two years if the winds change?” Trump, Jr. tells TIME.
GrabAGun is the latest in a succession of Trump-allied companies to go public through merging with a special purpose acquisition company, known as a SPAC. First, there was Rumble, a right-wing alternative to YouTube backed by billionaire Peter Thiel. Then there was PublicSquare. Following in his son’s footsteps, the President used the same strategy last year with his social media platform Truth Social, taking its parent company public under the ticker “DJT.” Most recently, Trump Jr. and Malik, a Republican mega-donor, have elevated the firearms seller some call the “Amazon of guns.” It will trade under the ticker “PEW”—as in the sound of someone imitating a gunshot.
In their eyes, the pattern reflects the maturation of a so-called parallel economy. When PublicSquare went opened on the NYSE in July 2023, the firm had generated less than $1 million in total revenue. While the company is not yet profitable, it…
[ad_2]
