How do special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) serve public investors? : “Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.” — Charles Mackay Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have gone viral. They accounted for half of total initial public offering (IPO) funding in the United States last year, up from 20% the year before and less than 10% in 2015. SPACs raised more money in 2020 than in the 10 prior years and more in this year’s first quarter than all of last year.