At the end of 2021 Trump Media & Technology Group and online video company Rumble Inc. announced a ‘wide-ranging technology and cloud services’ partnership. New reporting reveals that the Chief Information Officer of TM&TG is also the CTO for Cosmic Development, a key Rumble partner with offices in Macedonia.
Rumble competes with YouTube
Rumble is an online video site that competes with YouTube and is known as an alternative platform for right-wing figures. A 2020 Buzzfeed story described Rumble as a:
“video site that has become the darling of right-wing figures including Bongino, conservative author Dinesh D’Souza, writer John Solomon, Rep. Devin Nunes, and pro-Trump commentators Diamond and Silk.”
After Dan Bongino was banned from YouTube in January 2022 for posting covid misinformation he invested in Rumble where he has millions of followers.
Other Rumble investors include J.D. Vance, Peter Thiel and Darren Blanton (who invested in firms with Mike Flynn’s associates and was a director of GTV Media run by Steve Bannon’s partner Guo Wengui).
Trump Media & Technology Group and Rumble partnership
A December 2021 press release announced the partnership between Trump Media & Technology Group and Rumble Inc.
Trump Media & Technology Group (‘TMTG’) today announced that it has entered into a wide-ranging technology and cloud services agreement with Rumble Inc. (‘Rumble’). As part of the partnership, Rumble will deliver video and streaming for TRUTH Social. TMTG and Rumble are also in exclusive negotiations for Rumble to provide infrastructure and video delivery services for TMTG’s Subscription Video On-Demand product, TMTG+.
During the past year, Trump Media & Technology Group and Rumble have each separately pursued SPAC mergers (mergers with special purpose acquisition companies) in order to raise billions of dollars in funding.
Rumble merger with CF Acquisition Corp. VI
Rumble is planning to merge with CF Acquisition Corp. VI and this week the CF VI prospectus announced a special meeting on September 15, 2022 to vote on the business combination between CF VI and Rumble, a merger is valued at over $2 billion.
The CEO of CF VI is Howard Lutnick, who is also the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and a supporter of Donald Trump. At the end of 2021 Howard Lutnick described Rumble’s partnership with Trump and Truth Social in an interview on Newsmax:
“Truth and the 45th president are going to use Rumble’s infrastructure, their technology, their cloud distribution capability, so they are going to be a service provider, a tech provider to the president’s Truth Social”
The CF VI prospectus describes many aspects of their business including their initial cloud service offerings which revolve around a small number of customer relationships, including Trump Media & Technology Group.
Cosmic Development and Vladimir Novachki
The CF VI prospectus also describes a company called Cosmic, which they define as: “Cosmic Inc. and Kosmik Development Skopje doo (also referred to as Cosmic Development), collectively.” In numerous sections they describe Rumble’s significant reliance on Cosmic and also the ownership structure:
Cosmic provides content editing and moderation services to Rumble and is owned and controlled by Rumble’s founder and CEO, Christopher Pavlovski, and Ryan Milnes, who owns a significant number of Rumble Shares.
The May 2022 Registration Statement for Donald Trump’s new media company Trump Media & Technology Group lists Vladimir Novachki as the Chief Information Officer. The filing says Novachki has also served as the Chief Technology Officer at Cosmic Development where his responsibilities included implementation of solutions for large enterprises such as Rumble.
Cosmic, Inc. was registered in Canada in 2013 and lists Chris Pavlovski and Ryan Milnes as directors. The website for Cosmic Development lists Novachki as CTO and Rumble co-owner Ryan Milnes as CEO. The website says the first offshore office for Cosmic was founded in Skopje, Macedonia in 2011. In 2014, the second offshore office was opened in Belgrade, Serbia and a year later, another office was opened in Bitola, Macedonia.
While the media has reported on the partnership between TM&TG and Rumble, this is the first reporting that TM&TG executive Vladimir Novachki is also an executive for Cosmic, which is owned by Pavlovski and Milnes, and has significant responsibilities for content editing and moderation services for Rumble. This shows an even closer relationship between Rumble and TM&TG than previously reported.
TM&TG and DWAC merger delayed
While the Rumble and CF VI merger may soon be approved by shareholders, Trump Media & Technology Group’s planned merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., which is valued at $1 billion, is likely to be postponed.
On August 5, 2022 Trump’s social media partner DWAC filed a notice for a special stockholder meeting on September 6, 2022 to vote on a proposal to extend the date of the merger/business combination with Trump Media & Technology Group from Sept 8, 2022 to Sept 8, 2023.
The filing notes that investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission could materially delay, impede or prevent the business combination and also mentions subpoenas for information including about Rocket One, where former TM&TG director Bruce Garelick works.
See related charts on Bruce Garelick and TM&TG, DWAC, Patrick Orlando and ARC Group:
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