Taylor: Blank-check companies are the new bubble
March 3, 2021
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Nominations are already open for the craziest frothy finance stories of 2021.
Strong cases can be made (and I have made them) for Bitcoin and Reddit bros’ GameStop short squeezes.
But maybe the uber example of frothy finances this year are SPACs.
Special purpose acquisition companies have existed for years, but on the fringes of Wall Street. Now, they are front and center.
SPACs are known as “blank-check” companies. You buy shares in a company that is an empty shell. The shell sells 100 million shares for, say $10, raising a billion dollars. In the future typically by next year the managers of the SPAC promise to purchase a private company. At that point, you find out what you, the shareholder, own!