Investors will pay a price for frenzy surrounding SPACs – the ‘blank check’ path to IPOs

Among the most notable indicators of market mania has been the explosion of special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. So-called “blank check” firms, which allow investors to back sponsors that then hunt for a private entity to take public, have raised tens of billions of dollars in 2021, an increase of more than 2,000% compared to 2020. What’s next?