President Trump would continue to hold a significant interest in Trump Media after its proposed merger with a fusion energy company, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday for a deal that would radically transform the parent company of Mr. Trump’s Truth Social platform.
Mr. Trump would own a little over 20 percent of the newly merged company’s stock, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His eldest son, Donald Jr., who oversees a trust that holds the president’s shares, would remain on the board of the company after the merger, the filing said.
The lengthy filing lays out the terms of the deal between Trump Media & Technology Group and TAE Technologies, which was formally announced in December. The filing is a necessary step toward getting securities regulators to sign off on the merger of the two money-losing businesses.
TAE Technologies, which has been working to develop nuclear fusion technology for more than two decades, will become a subsidiary of Trump Media if the deal closes, as expected, this year, the filing said. Trump Media, which went public in 2024, would remain the publicly traded company, and shares would continue to trade under the DJT stock symbol, according to the filing.
The companies envision keeping the TAE Technologies management team largely intact. Kevin McGurn, the interim chief executive of Trump Media, and Michl Binderbauer, TAE Technologies’ chief executive, are expected to serve as co-chief executives of the merged company.
“We believe commercial-scale fusion power will be the technology that secures America’s energy independence and delivers a decisive edge in the global race for A.I. dominance,” Mr. McGurn said in a statement.
Both TAE Technologies and Trump Media have struggled to generate revenue.
TAE Technologies, which counts Google as a significant investor, has said it holds over 1,600 patents and built and operated six experimental fusion reactors. The filing said the company had incurred losses since its inception and had an accumulated deficit of $1.8 billion. Without additional funding for research and future development, the filing said, there is “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
Fusion energy has long been envisioned as a clean energy source. But it remains largely an experimental technology, and it is not clear whether it can become commercially viable.
Many in the artificial intelligence industry see nuclear fusion as a way to ultimately power the giant energy centers at the heart of the A.I. revolution, and the merger would provide President Trump a direct way to profit from this build-out.
He owns about 41 percent of Trump Media’s shares, for a total value of about $1 billion, down considerably from the $6 billion valuation that those shares had shortly after Trump Media went public in 2024 by merging with a cash-rich special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Mr. Trump, who does not have any management role at Trump Media, has not sold any shares since the company went public. The company’s social media site, Truth Social, has seen recent declines in traffic. Trump Media shares declined slightly to $9.07.
The regulatory filing revealed that the merger proposal came together rather quickly last fall. Like Trump Media, TAE Technologies was considering going public by merging with another SPAC, sponsored by Yorkville Advisors, a New Jersey-based investment firm that has a number of business dealings with Trump Media.
Eventually, those merger discussions gave way to discussions between executives at the fusion energy company and Trump Media.
The regulatory filing said Donald Trump Jr., who serves on the Trump Media board, took part in one of those discussions on Nov. 17. About a month later, Trump Media’s board met to approve the deal. The two companies announced the merger on Dec. 18.
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