(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump Jr. is joining the board of PSQ Holdings Inc., owner of online marketplace PublicSquare, according to people familiar with the matter. The company’s shares nearly doubled in early New York trading.
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Trump, who recently started as a partner at investment firm 1789 Capital, is set to join PSQ’s board as early as Tuesday, said one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the appointment has not been announced publicly. PSQ, based in West Palm Beach, Florida, declined to comment. Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
PublicSquare aims to connect “native” businesses with consumers, and has sought to build a so-called “parallel economy,” which it defines as prioritizing religion and family.
PSQ is led by CEO Michael Seifert, who met Trump in 2022 through a mutual friend, Alex Brusewitz, an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, one of the people said.
Trump Jr. later made an introduction to both Umid Malik, who agreed to take the company public in February 2023 through a special purpose acquisition company, and Nick Ayers, a PSQ board member who served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence. The person said. Trump Jr. invested in the company early that year and currently owns more than 550,000 shares.
PSQ shares are down 61% this year through Monday, giving the company a market cap of $71.6 million. The stock jumped 92% to $3.95 at 8:13 a.m. in early New York trading.
In October, PSQ launched a payments company and expects to process more than $1.8 billion in gun and firearm-related transactions next year, according to one of the people. On an earnings call last month, Seifert said the company may generate positive cash flows at the end of 2025.
(Updates with post reaction in first and sixth paragraphs.)
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