The Celebrities From Serena Williams to A-Rod Fueling the SPAC Boom – The Wall Street Journal

By

Amrith Ramkumar

Updated March 17, 2021 5:33 am ET

A slew of celebrities are joining SPACs as they become a popular way for trendy companies of the future to go public.

Photo: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY EMIL LENDOF/WSJ; PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

One key driver of the boom in special-purpose acquisition companies is a reputational shift. 

Blank-check companies were associated with fraud and lackluster investor returns for decades. Now, SPACs are cool, and the biggest names in sports, politics, business and entertainment are involved.

Celebrity influencers are even drawing attention from regulators, who warned recently about the dangers of investing in SPACs just because of famous backers. 

SPACs are shell companies that go public with the sole intent of combining with a private firm to take it public. That private company then gets the SPAC’s place in the stock market. Going public by merging with a SPAC has become a popular way for early stage companies to access everyday investors and a trendy endeavor for wealthy Americans in sports, entertainment and finance.   

With more than 400 blank-check companies now in the market and seeking private firms to acquire and take public, here are some of the celebrities who have helped popularize the once-obscure investments:

Athletes

• Shaquille O’Neal, Forest Road Acquisition Corp. (taking Beachbody public) and Forest Road Acquisition Corp. II
• Serena Williams, Jaws Spitfire Acquisition Corp. (one of real-estate investor Barry Sternlicht’s SPACs)
• Alex Rodriguez, Slam Corp. 
• Colin Kaepernick, Mission Advancement Corp.
• Stephen Curry, Dune Acquisition Corp. 
• Patrick Mahomes, Justin Verlander, Naomi Osaka, Saul “Canelo” Álvarez, Robert Lewandowski, Disruptive Acquisition Corp. (hasn’t begun trading yet)
• Peyton Manning, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, NewHold Investment Corp. (investing in deal to take crowd-safety company Evolv Technology public)
• Roger Staubach, Victory Acquisition Corp. (hasn’t started trading)

Singers and other pop-culture figures

• Ciara, Bright Lights Acquisition Corp. 
• Jay-Z, The Parent Co. (formerly Subversive Capital Acquisition Corp.)
• Sammy Hagar, Victory Acquisition Corp. (hasn’t started trading)
• Joanna Coles, Northern Star Acquisition Corp. (taking BarkBox Inc. public), Northern Star Investment Corp. II-IV

Private companies are flooding to special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, to bypass the traditional IPO process and gain a public listing. WSJ explains why some critics say investing in these so-called blank-check companies isn’t worth the risk. Illustration: Zoë Soriano/WSJ

Political figures

• Paul Ryan, Executive Network Partnering Corp.
• Wilbur Ross and Larry Kudlow, Ross Acquisition Corp. II
• Gary Cohn, Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp.
• Lloyd Austin, Pine Island Acquisition Corp.
• John Delaney, Revolution Acceleration Acquisition Corp. II 

Business and finance figures

• Peter Thiel, Bridgetown Holdings Ltd. and Bridgetown 2 Holdings Ltd. 
• Richard Branson, VG Acquisition Corp. (taking 23andMe Inc. public; Branson’s Virgin Galactic also went public via a SPAC in 2019)
• Danny Meyer, USHG Acquisition Corp.
• Bill Ackman and Michael Ovitz, Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. 
• Daniel Och, Kevin Systrom and Steve Ells, Ajax I
• Sam Zell, Equity Distribution Acquisition Corp.
• Michael Klein, Churchill Capital Corp. franchise (has listed seven SPACs so far; taking Lucid Motors public and took MultiPlan Inc. and Clarivate PLC public) 

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Other sports figures and team owners (many are also notable in business and finance)

• Billy Beane, RedBall Acquisition Corp. (previously was in talks to take Fenway Sports Group LLC public)
• Joe Torre, Theo Epstein, NewHold Investment Corp. (investing in deal to take crowd-safety company Evolv Technology public)
• Chamath Palihapitiya, Social Capital Hedosophia Corp. franchise (has listed six SPACs so far; taking Social Finance Inc. public and took Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc., Opendoor Technologies Inc. and Clover Health Investments Corp. public)
• Peter Guber, Bright Lights Acquisition Corp. 
• Tilman Fertitta, Landcadia Holdings Inc. III (previous SPAC took Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. public)
• Vivek Ranadivé, BowX Acquisition Corp. (in talks to take WeWork public)
• Tom Ricketts, Marquee Raine Acquisition Corp. 
• Bill Foley, Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. I and II, (taking Alight Solutions and Paysafe Group Holdings Ltd. public), Trebia Acquisition Corp., Austerlitz Acquisition Corp. I and II
• Jon Ledecky, Northern Star Acquisition Corp. (taking BarkBox Inc. public), Northern Star Investment Corp. II-IV, Pivotal Investment Corp. III (previous Pivotal SPAC took XL Fleet Corp. public)
• Tom Gores, Platinum Equity Partners (companies held by his private-equity firm have gone public through SPAC mergers, including one involving his brother, Alec Gores)
• Terry Pegula, East Resources Acquisition Co. 
• Ron Burkle, Yucaipa Acquisition Corp. 

Note: This list includes celebrities who have been listed in regulatory documents associated with SPACs either as creators, advisers or simply by name, and others involved somehow with blank-check company deals. Some of those named may no longer be active in the SPAC.

Write to Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com

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