Why the SPAC Boom Fizzled | WSJ What Went Wrong

In March 2021, special-purpose acquisition companies raised $36 billion. In July 2022, no new SPACs raised money.

At their peak, SPACs accounted for 70% of all IPOs, with $95 billion raised. But now, the market has dried up and shares of companies that did SPAC deals have crashed. WSJ explains the decline of the IPO vehicle.

Illustration: Ali Larkin

What Went Wrong explores the challenging conditions and decisions that led to a company's downturn.

#WSJ #SPACs #IPO

[CrimsonAlchemist]

It's amazing how Wall Street billionaires & multi billion dollar companies would pour billions of investment into these new companies that never had any sales and didn't really do proper due diligence. While i can't even get a small investment on my businesses that are selling well in millions for years.

[TravisTerrell]

So you're saying a method to go public that removes the majority of existing oversight and normal barriers results in riskier, more speculative companies becoming listed? Shocking.

[eremite]

Wallstreet pumped shitcos to naive retail investors and robbed them of their money.

[lambertois]

The SPAC were fuelled by low interest rates and massive QE.
The source of cheap money has dried out.
The SPAC, the hedge funds, the private equity are taking are taking the hit.

[TheMrFishnDucks]

First time I heard about lack of oversight and checking for SPACs didn't listen further and walked away. Nice video. Keep up the good work.

[lebronsinclair]

Instead of improving society and seeing tangible results we care about “growth.” I’m over it…

[coldfingersub]

Lol 😂 SPAC Are excellent and investments when you are in at the very beginning it’s like money falling out of the pockets of the investors who come later kind of like a pyramid scheme.

As soon as it takes off and all the little people who don’t know how the cycle works start investing in the stock prices go out the first founders and investors sell off their stocks at the higher price and back away and then watch the whole thing crumble as everybody who came in later loses.

Even when it loses and falls apart there’s always somebody who profits from the beginning. Always follow the money backwards

[zhubotang]

Most people don’t realize that money for some people don’t come from labour, or hourly wages or even inheritance. Fiat money are created out of thin air and bestowed to people close to the power or central hierarchy. These money could say never really existed. They are just an entry in a central database somewhere. And bankers or whoever first access them can recklessly gamble with them because it never really existed. It is not a house or car or kitchen utensils. Real things have values. Money in financial terms are just credit can be easily created or written off.

[BenWilson]

Because too many of the spac mergers included compabies that were poorly run and fraudulent in some cases. Not ready for primetime at all. It's as if they should have gone through a formal screening process for their IPO instead... it's like we gave a fasttrack option to kids to get their drivers license without a test, then were surprised that a bunch of them caused wrecks

[bengaltiger]

It's another way for those with money to get in early, and then soak the rubes and retail investors after. Find the bigger fool after and you're in the clear.

[gregolas]

Whoever edited this video needs to take a class in sound mixing

[jaymacpherson]

It seems a SPAC with its “company” formation might further isolate understanding by the SPAC’s investors from the acquisition target’s business viability.

[shubhamdubey]

I have a confusion and will be great if someone can help resolve it.
0:51-0:59 You mentioned the SPAC is taken public, which means general public can buy shares.
1:23-1:27 You mentioned the private company replaces the SPAC and investors (I assume you mean general public) can now buy shares.

A natural question is, when general public can buy shares - before acquisition/merger or after that?
I have other questions too but let's keep it simple for now.

[haonyoass]

I don’t even understand how this is legal. It seems like their only purpose is to avoid the rules we’ve put in place. You’d think whoever put those rules in place would’ve accounted for something like this.

[sweealamak]

Folks who bought into ARRIVAL are unfortunate to be fooled by the slick looking videos and high moral ground that appealed to the untrained eye. My only hope is that they've learnt their lesson without losing their livelihood.

[ropro]

Lol, the stupidity born of greed never ceases to amaze me. Why is this even legal? 😆

[Syzygy_Bliss]

I mean, if a company’s so bad that it can’t go public through traditional means, why expect it to perform well as a public company.

I’m sympathetic to companies with non-traditional structures and revenue. But being non-traditional isn’t an excuse for being non-viable.

With that said, i’m more than happy to see vcs burn their money funding cool work. I just wish the work was more than just cool. Perhaps even useful would be nice?

[Continentalmunkey]

EUMay resurrect SPAC format just for companies like chewy, and nursing homes but state will always prioritize public human bodies over cats and dogs unlike

[ToySeeker]

Fascinating, It's like building a financial rocket.... If you don't get it into space. It blows. Vertical Growth! I like the idea, the reality was different. It did create some cool products! 😅😅

[MrMadvillan]

a last ditch pump and dump for terrible companies that probably shouldn’t exists.