Trump brothers-backed Dominari Holdings cleared to lead IPOs on NYSE

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By Ateev Bhandari

(Reuters) -Dominari Holdings, a company backed by the sons of U.S. President Donald Trump, said on Thursday its financial advisory business has won approval to be a lead or principal underwriter for initial public offerings on the New York Stock Exchange.

The ability to lead an IPO can position an investment bank for maximum control and financial gain from a listing. The company had received a similar approval from Nasdaq in August.

Trump’s family has announced several business ventures since his election win, serving as paid advisors on corporate boards and expanding their investments in golf courses, hotels, telecom and crypto miners and ventures that they say echo the president’s policies and agenda.

Eric and Trump Jr. own 6.28% each in Dominari Holdings, according to LSEG data, which is the parent of boutique investment bank Dominari Securities. This puts them among top shareholders in the company.

“Watch the pipeline around the Trump-adjacent manufacturing SPAC and similar listings. If Dominari repeatedly nabs lead roles there, it cements a specialty franchise,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, partner and CIO at Running Point Capital Advisors.

In August, Dominari Holdings was an underwriter on a manufacturing-focused blank-check firm launched by the sons of the president, amid his Make in America push.

Dominari also organized the reverse merger between Justin Sun’s crypto platform Tron and SRM Entertainment in June. Billionaire Sun has close ties to Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture.

The company also owns a stake in American Bitcoin, a crypto mining venture backed by the brothers.

The Trump duo joined Dominari’s board in February. Its revenue more than five times in the three months ended June 30, which marked the first full quarter of operations since their appointment.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Arun Koyyur)