As it looks, many big names in the business and technology world don’t want to get left out of the boom of special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and thus have moved to launch their own SPACs or take directorship positions at those formed by others. 

Many of such big names from the technology world have launched and collectively raised billions of dollars for their respective SPACs, among them Peter Thiel of Palantir, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and Zillow Co-Founder Spencer Rascoff. 

Likewise, many in the finance world have launched big SPACs, among such hedge fund tycoon Bill Ackman who holds the record for the biggest amount ever raised by a SPAC, and investor Michael Klein whose SPAC recently sealed a deal to merge with ambitious electric car startup Lucid Motors in what’s the biggest-ever SPAC merger deal by market value.

Now, two big names from the finance and technology world have crossed over and teamed up to form a SPAC, being Michael Klein who’s noted above, and then Sam Altman, the former President of Y Combinator and current CEO of artificial intelligence company OpenAI. Both have teamed up to launch Altc Acquisition Corp, a SPAC that’s filed with the SEC to raise $1 billion from an initial public offering.

• Looking to raise $1 billion from investors, Altc Acquisition Corp is in the bigger leagues of SPACs of its kind by the amount that it’s looking to raise. It presents a situation where Sam Altman is getting into the SPAC game like a handful of its acquaintances with a big splash.

• Altc Acquisition Corp is looking to raise $1 billion by selling 100 million share units for $10 each and has recruited four investment banks being Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan, and Citigroup to arrange the share sale to investors on the public markets. 

• In its filing with the SEC, Altc Acquisition noted that its team is led by Sam Altman. Altman is a well-known entrepreneur and investor in the technology industry and thereby makes a merger with a tech startup or established company for his SPAC more likely. Altman is currently the CEO of OpenAI and holds board seats at Reddit and Expedia Group.

• For Altc Acquisition Corp, Altman is joined by other directors including co-founder Michael Klein, OpenAI’s CFO Brad Lightcap, and tech investor Scott Krisiloff. Together, they’ll handle the search for a merger target and hopefully, try to find one like Lucid Motors which another of Klein’s SPACs has sealed a deal to merge with. 

• Altc Acquisition Corp has filed to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “ALCC.U”. It’s set to complete its IPO and start trading likely on the first week of May.

Photo: Sam Altman, credit: TechCrunch, licensed under CC BY 2.0

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