Chamath warns retail investors to avoid his new SPAC

Venture capitalist and All-In podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya recently launched a new SPAC named “American Exceptionalism,” raising $345 million to acquire startups in energy, AI, crypto/DeFi, or defense and take them public. Despite his involvement, Palihapitiya strongly advises retail investors against buying shares in this SPAC, reserving only about 1% of shares for them while selling nearly 99% to large institutional investors. He cautions retail buyers to carefully review disclosures and make informed decisions, a rare move for a SPAC sponsor to openly discourage retail participation. Palihapitiya, known as the “SPAC King” for popularizing SPACs from 2019 to 2021, acknowledges the poor post-merger returns SPACs have historically delivered to shareholders, despite benefiting sponsors and some startups. His first SPAC took Virgin Galactic public, which now trades below $4, exemplifying the challenges retail investors face. In response