SPAC
Also called: blank check company, special purpose acquisition company
A SPAC raises money in an IPO with no business at all, then hunts for a private company to merge with, typically within two years. Its economics are brutal for late investors: the sponsor takes roughly 20% of the shares for a nominal sum, and redemptions by early holders leave less cash than the headline. The 2020–21 boom produced post-merger returns that were, on average, sharply negative.