Leaders of the SPAC: Why Hollywood Is Hot for Blank-Check Companies

Hollywood talent and executives like Shaquille O’Neal and former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer, and tech and gaming companies from DraftKings to Skillz, are rushing into the hot new thing for investment and growth: SPACs, short for Special Purpose Acquisition Company. These so-called “blank check companies,” created to raise money through an initial public offering with the intent of acquiring another company, are flooding into a market where money is cheap and investors are eager to find new ways to profit. According to investment experts, SPACs represent low-risk, high-reward potential for fast-growing companies to go public. “It has started to build exponentially beyond private equity, as other industries like Hollywood realized they possess reach to investors and understand how to build a storyline,” Burke Dempsey, executive vice president head of investment banking at Wedbush, told TheWrap. “It’s like, if you don’t have a SPAC, where have you been? What are you going to say at your next cocktail party on Zoom?” Most recently, CONX Corp., a new SPAC led by Dish founder Charlie Ergen, raised $750 million when it hit Nasdaq in late October with the goal of acquiring a private tech or media company and take it public. Triller, the...

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