SPAC veteran Chamath Palihapitiya says blank-check companies need more regulation and greater oversight, writing in an opinion piece for Bloomberg.
U.S. public markets, one of the greatest generators of wealth in the history of capitalism, should not exclusively be a place where early, connected investors get liquidity, he writes. There should be a place for all investors, on a level playing field, to participate in the growth of the economy.
Unfortunately, increased regulation for some kinds of investors with lax oversight of others, and increased disclosure for some with complete opaqueness for others, have created a market of haves and have-nots.
At the same time, the number of publicly traded companies has shrunk from approximately 8,000 to 4,000 over the past few decades. All of this has entrenched the advantage for insiders. The number of Americans invested in the stock market peaked in 2007 at almost 65 percent, a figure now barely above 50 percent. Read more.
