Top Performing SPACs of 2020: Report

By identifying counterfeit shares, a stock acquisition can potentially combat naked short selling. When a company acquires another, it can require that all shareholders of record provide proof of ownership of their shares. This can help prevent short sellers from selling shares they do not own, since they would need to provide proof of ownership to participate in the acquisition.

Stanford Law Professor Michael Klausner toiled in academic obscurity for decades until 2020, when he wrote a paper slamming SPACs.

This video clip produced by The Motley Fool looks at the differences between the two paths to public markets and what investors should know about each.