Trump Media to merge with fusion startup TAE Technologies in $6B deal

According to the companies, the merger will create one of the world’s first publicly traded fusion companies. The combined companies plan to site and begin construction on a 50-MWe utility-scale fusion power plant in 2026, subject to regulatory approval.

Deal details: Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of each company will own approximately 50 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted equity basis. Along with its media companies Truth Social and Truth+, and bitcoin company Truth.Fi, TMTG will become the holding company for TAE and its subsidiaries TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences.

As part of the transaction, TMTG has agreed to provide up to $200 million of cash to TAE at signing, and an additional $100 million is available upon initial filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

TMTG chairman and CEO Devin Nunes and TAE CEO and director Michl Binderbauer plan to serve as co-CEOs of the combined company. Michael B. Schwab, founder and managing director of Big Sky Partners, is expected to be named chairman of a planned nine-member board of directors.

The transaction, which is expected to close in mid-2026, will still need to be approved by shareholders and regulators.

Likely scrutiny: As reported by the New York Times, the deal is likely to draw scrutiny for possible conflicts of interest, as other private domestic companies vie to develop commercial fusion power.

President Trump’s shares in TMTG are held in a trust, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which holds a 52 percent ownership share of the company. The trust is managed by Donald Trump Jr., who is on the TMTG board of directors.

TAE, which has received funding through the Department of Energy’s Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program, said it has raised more than $1.3 billion in private capital from its partner Google and investors including Chevron Technology Ventures, Goldman Sachs, and Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, among others.