Trump's stock rallies ahead of listing and appeals court win on civil fraud bond

Former President Donald Trump won a reprieve Monday after an appeals court agreed to block New York state authorities from moving to seize his assets and reduced his required bond to $175 million with an extended deadline.

Trump had faced a deadline of midnight on Monday to post a bond covering $454 million in penalties imposed by a New York court in a civil fraud judgment against the former president for overstating his net worth and the value of his real estate properties to secure more favorable terms for loans and other transactions.

The appeals court's ruling reduces that required bond to $175 million and grants Trump an additional 10 days to provide the funding. Trump's lawyers had said they were unable to find surety companies willing to provide him with a bond to cover the judgment during his appeal without him putting up over $557 million – an amount they said would require a total of $1 billion in cash and cash equivalents to have enough capital to operate the business.

Shares in Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) surged upwards of 35% during Monday's trading session in the wake of the appeals court rules. DWAC is the special purpose acquisition company that plans to list Trump Media & Technology Group on the stock market through a merger that values Trump's stake in Truth Social at more than $3.3 billion – with Monday's gains pushing it closer to $4 billion.

DWAC shareholders on Friday approved the merger with Trump Media & Technology Group which sent the stock sliding 13.7%, though Monday's rally has recovered those losses.

Trump Media & Technology Group shares and warrants are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq this Tuesday under the tickers "DJT" and "DJTWW."

The initial public offering for Trump's social media platform Truth Social could provide the former president with a cash infusion as he deals with expensive legal battles in civil and criminal court. Trump owns about 58% of the new legal entity, with more than 78 million shares of the company's stock.

However, he may have to wait for a period of time to cash in on that investment. Leading shareholders in IPOs are often subject to restrictions that require them to hold their shares for at least six months as a means of protecting those who purchase shares from unexpected volatility caused by a large quantity of shares being sold unexpectedly. Such restrictions also apply to other arrangements like taking out a loan against the value of the stock.

It's possible that the company's board could waive those restrictions to allow Trump to sell his shares sooner than required, a scenario that would've had a greater sense of urgency to it if the former president still needed to pay the full penalty or post a bond to prevent the state of New York from trying to seize his assets and bank accounts.

The appellate court's reduction of Trump's bond requirement from either the full penalty $454 million – or the $557 million surety companies were requesting – to a bond of $175 million within the next 10 days may make it unnecessary to try to get an exemption to sell shares or borrow against them more quickly.

Trump has said he has nearly $500 million in cash but that he planned to use most of it for his presidential campaign. Following the appellate court's ruling, Trump said he will "abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash."

He added in reference to the judge who has presided over his fraud case that, "This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron's original decision was at $450 Million."