Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-12-07)

○ The25-year-oldis theyoungestRepublicaneverelected

totheHouseofRepresentativesandwillbethefirstU.S.

lawmakerbornin the1990s.

DonaldTrumplosttheelection,buthismessageresonatedwithmorethan 73 million

people,andRepublicansgainedseatsintheHouse.ThetelegenicCawthorn,who

wonNorthCarolina’s11thDistrict,supportedthepresidentandappearsgametocarry

onhisspiritundertheBidenadministration.Duringtheelection,Cawthorndealtwith

controversiesaroundsexualmisconductandracism(hedeniedtheaccusations),

aswellasanInstagrampostthatseemedtoglorifyHitler.(Cawthornsaidthata

triptoHitler’svacationhousein Germanyhadbeenonhis“bucketlist”and“didnot

disappoint.”)Afterhisracewascalled,hecontinuedchannelingTrump’sbombastic

style,tweeting,“Crymore,lib.”Cawthornhasbeenusinga wheelchairsincea 2014

caraccidentandsayshewantstomakehealthcarehissignatureissue.

TheelectionofsomeonehisagewasoneofmanypoliticalfirstsintheU.S.in

November.NotableothersincludethefirstKorean-Americanwomentoservein the

House:RepublicanMichelleSteelofCaliforniaandDemocratMarilynStrickland

ofWashingtonstate.DemocratCoriBushis thefirstBlackwomantorepresent

Missouri,andCynthiaLummisis thefirstfemalesenatorfromWyoming.InNew

York,RitchieTorresandMondaireJoneswillbesworninasthefirstopenlygay

Blackrepresentatives.Andin Delaware,newstateSenatorSarahMcBridebecomes

thehighest-rankingtransgenderlawmakerinthecountry.—ErikWasson

○ Hehir’sTheLastDance,a 10-part

docuseriesaboutMichaelJordan’s

finalseasonwiththeChicagoBulls

in 1998,drew6.3millionviewers

thenightit premieredonESPN

andESPN2in April,a recordfor

a documentaryonthenetwork,

andanaverageof5.6million

overthefollowingmonth,making

it themost-watcheddocin the

network’shistory.

ThefirstepisodeofTheLastDance

airedwhenmostoftheU.S.hadbeen

inlockdownfor a monthandlive

sportswerealmosttotallyonhiatus.

ESPNmovedupthereleasebytwo

monthstogivesports-starvedfans

somethingtogetexcitedabout—and

somethingtojustifythe$8a month

cablesubscriberswerespending.

Hehirwovedecades-old,behind-

the-scenesvideowithmodern-day

interviews and commentary into

a ruminationonthepriceofglory.

Jordanappeareda littleoverweight

andglassy-eyedforinterviews;hesat

alone,a cigaranddrinksometimes

athand.Hehir,whomadetheESPN

docsAndretheGiantandTheFab

Five, abouttheUniversityofMichigan

basketballteamoftheearly ’90s,

usedtheaccesstoJordanandthe

previously unseenfootageto tap

intonostalgia,distractviewers,and

complicatethepictureofoneofthe

most famousathletesof alltime.

—IraBoudway

○ Promotershaveraisedover

$60billionthisyear—more

thanin theprevious 10 years

combined—forcompaniesthat

don’thavea businessyet.

Theycameoutofnowheretodominatethe

marketforinitialpublicofferingsin2020.

Specialpurposeacquisitioncompanies,also

knownasblankchecks,areemptycorporate

shellswhosesponsorsraisemoneyfrom

investorsandthenlooktobuyintoanother

business,usuallya privateone.ASPAC’s

mostvaluableasset,besidesallthatcash

frominvestors,is arguablyitsstockmarket

listing.Thecompanyit investsininstantly

becomesa publicone,withoutmanyofthe

hasslesthatgoalongwitha traditionalIPO.

AnotherreasonSPACswerebigthisyear:

ThemarketvolatilitythatfollowedtheCovid-

19 lockdownsmadethespringandsummer

a scarytimetotrytosellnewstock.SPACs

offerbusinessesa surerdeal—justtake

thismoneywe’vealreadyraised.Butwhy

wouldsomeonebuysharesina company

thatdoesn’tevenhavea businessyet?Ina

worldoflowinterestratesandhighvaluations

onotherstocks,someseeSPACsasa

reasonableplacetoparkmoneyfora while.

A SPACis typicallystructuredsoyoucanget

moneyoutif youdon’tlikethedealit makes,

andthere’sa chanceyou’llbegettingin early

onthenexthotcompany.—CrystalTse

SPECIAL

PURPOSE

ACQUISITION

COMPANIES

MADISON CAWTHORN

REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT, NORTH CAROLINA

JASON

HEHIR

DOCUMENTARIAN

HEHIR: ILYA S. SAVENOK/GETTY IMAGES. CAWTHORN: COURTESY OF THE COMMITTEE ON ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE 2020 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMI

TTEE. VIYA: IMAGINECHINA.

COVID TRACKING PROJECT: KENT HERNANDEZ, COURTESY ROBINSON MEYER, COURTESY ERIN KISSANE, COURTESY JEFF HAMMERBACHER

I Hehir played baseball at Williams College

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