F I N A N C E
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Edited by
Pat RegnierSPACs,raising$31.6billion,morethandoubleall
oflastyear’svolumeof$12.4billion.Andlastyear
wasa recordbreaker,too.“Threetofouryearsago,
SPACswerejusta curiosity,”saysNiccolodeMasi,
chiefexecutive officer of two blank checks, DMY
Technology Group Inc. and DMY Technology Group
Inc. II, that together raised more than $500 mil-
lion. “Now it’s an option for everybody.”
The blank check boom—or maybe fad—stems
from the collision of two big trends. The first is
historically low interest rates. With safe bonds
paying less than 1% and stocks trading at high val-
uations, more investors are willing to park their
money with a SPAC in hopes of getting lucky withThe new big-money status symbol of 2020 is run-
ning your own blank check company. Hedge fund
billionaire Bill Ackman has a new one. Oakland A’s
executive Billy Beane, who was played by Brad Pitt
in the film Moneyball, got into the game with an
initial public offering in August. Even former U.S.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is getting one going.
So what’s a blank check? Formally known as
a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC,
it’s an investment vehicle that goes public despite
having no real business. The plan is to raise money
from investors and use it to buy into another com-
pany, typically a private one that’s yet to be chosen.
More than 40% of 2020’s IPOs by volume have beenBlank check IPOs raise cash for corporations with no operations—
just a plan to buy another companyThe Big Business
Of Nothing