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The online gunseller with Donald Trump
Jr. on its board makes its market debut. Shares plunge
[July 17, 2025]
By MATT OTT
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Online firearms seller GrabAGun Digital Holdings, with the stock
ticker “PEW,” made its market debut on Wednesday after board member and
son of the U.S. president, Donald Trump Jr., rang the opening bell at
the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares of GrabAGun spiked at first but then sank, closing down nearly
24%.
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GrabAGun CEO Marc Nemati, center, board member Donald Trump, Jr., right,
and financier Omeed Malik pose for a picture on the floor at the New
York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (AP
Photo/Seth Wenig) |
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GrabAGun, which also sells ammunition and firearm accessories on
its website, went public through a merger with a special
acquisition company, or SPAC, named Colombier Acquisition Corp.
The Palm Beach, Florida, company said the transaction netted it
more than $119 million, which GrabAGun said will be used for
working capital and “other purposes to accelerate the company's
future growth.”
Special acquisition companies, sometimes called “blank check"
companies, can give startups quicker and easier routes to
getting their shares trading publicly, while avoiding the
traditional scrutiny that comes with a more standard IPO.
Corporate interest in having Trump Jr. as a member of the board
accelerated upon his father's victory in the U.S. presidential
election.
Trump Jr. had been named to one board seat between 2020 and
2025, and that was his father's Trump Media & Technology Group
in 2022.
Since Election Day in November 2024, Trump Jr. has been named to
the board of directors at five companies, including GrabAGun.
There are clear benefits that come with the name.
Trump Jr. was named to the board of drone maker Unusual Machines
in the same month that his father was elected. Shares in the
company tripled in the days after the announcement.
Shares of the so-called “anti-woke” online marketplace PSQ
Holdings, doing business as PublicSquare, more than tripled
after it named Trump Jr. to its board in early December.
In February, the financial advisory firm Dominari Holdings named
Trump Jr. and his brother Eric Trump to an advisory board,
sending its shares from around $3 to $13 in a matter of days.
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