Sly As A Fox: How Wilbur Ross Slipped Out Of Scandal And Back Into Business Nicolas Ortega for Forbes Share to Facebook Share to Linkedin Fresh off a years-long ethics investigation, Trump’s commerce secretary is back in business with a new SPAC—which he created while still in office. ON JANUARY 19, 2021, while still serving as the U.S. secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross set up a new company in the Cayman Islands. The business had no operations, but it did have big plans. It was a special purpose acquisition company, or a SPAC, which would allow Ross to raise more than $300 million from investors.