An Investor Against Trump Media: Patrick Orlando vs Eric Swider, and the Failure of the Trump Media-DWAC Merger

There is a lot of messy details. Patrick Orlando, the CEO of DWAC until March 23, says that he was fired by Eric Swider, a member of the Trump Media board. (Swider served as CEO until March of this year.) Orlando filed the suit against Swider through the Benessere Investment Group, a company he controls, according to Wired’s report.

The suit says that Swider used to email the investors of the Truth Social deal after they learned that Orlando had been fired. Swider wrote that Mr. Orlando’s leadership has guided our common interests with DWAC into the arms of the SEC, the DOJ and costly investigations. “By filing this lawsuit against DWAC, Mr. Orlando is destroying the value that may be realized upon consummation of the business combination by the Company and its members.” Swider invited investors to take part in a series of Zoom calls that would explain their risk exposure based on leadership that continues to lead them down a path of mis-information, hidden information and self dealing.

DWAC was a rocky place to be at when it came to the tenure ofOrlando. The proposed Trump Media-DWAC merger was delayed for years, due in part to probes by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal criminal investigators. CNBC reported that the delays cost the DWAC $100 million.