SPACs, explained

Special-purpose acquisition companies let companies skirt the IPO process

A video explains how private companies have taken advantage of this loophole, why investing in these companies isn’t always a good idea, and how blank-check companies (as they’re commonly called) work.

A 'unicorn' is a private company with a $1B-plus valuation

Just like a horse with a spiraling horn on its head, private companies with a more than $1B valuation are rare creatures. But unlike the mythical creature, this type of “unicorn” is occasionally spotted in the wild. Unicorn companies include SpaceX, OpenAI, Skims, and more.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company

Those revelations include the company's unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

An initial public offering is how a private company becomes public

This milestone requires plenty of preparation, starting with the SEC's S-1 registration, revealing key details about the company's finances and strategy. Investment bankers set valuations, secure long-term investors, and finalize share pricing before the public launch. IPOs provide companies with significant capital, but also demand transparency and invite public scrutiny.

Venture capital is a type of financing that firms and funds use to invest in startups they believe have the potential for long-term growth

Household name companies such as Airbnb and Uber might not exist without venture capital, which is commonly referred to as "VC" for short.

A quick guide to everything SpaceX

SpaceX has single-handedly reignited commercial space exploration, with its reusable rockets, broadband satellite constellation, and plans to populate Mars. The company has gone from a mere idea in 2002 to the world's most well-known private space company. Learn the basics about this pivotal company with this quick guide from CNET.

Airbnb’s S-1 in 2020 revealed how it weathered the pandemic and its financials

An S-1 or prospectus is a registration form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission when a company wants to go public. They can be pretty juicy documents, as S-1s can reveal previously private details about companies to the public, often for the first time.

Private equity firms often use leveraged buyouts to acquire new companies

In a leveraged buyout or "LBO," private equity funds finance acquisitions with debt secured by the target company's assets and cash flows. The PE firm aims to improve operations and leverage the company's profile to pay down debt, thereby increasing equity value.

Startups are small, early-stage companies designed to grow fast

The definition of the word “startup” is complicated—so who better to define it than Y Combinator, perhaps the most well-known startup accelerator in the business? YC’s blog also explains how startups make money and build products.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Investing in private equity is typically reserved for 'accredited investors'

Limiting PE to accredited investors helps protect less experienced investors from large and risky investments. Accredited investors must meet requirements set by the Securities and Exchange Commission—they're typically required to have a net worth exceeding $1M, for instance. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Some private credit funds trade on the stock market

These funds, which trade at market prices, are called "public BDCs," which stands for "business development companies." For instance, the global alternative investment manager Ares Management Corp. has a public BDC.

Read about the day Palantir went public in 2020

After more than 15 years in business, Palantir held its initial public offering (IPO) via a direct listing—meaning the company didn't rely on underwriters to assess the initial trading price or stock value. Palantir's stock ended the day trading 31% higher than the reference price.

SAFE is a financial tool that stands for ‘simple agreement for future equity’

In the first part of a two-part series, SAFEs are explained as a way angel investors safeguard their investment in a startup. These agreements outline equity expectations.

Billionaires are racing to space to control future markets

Although different companies have described focuses ranging from luxury tourism to Martian space colonies, all are building infrastructure to capitalize on the shift away from government-only control and betting big on reusability and scale. By securing public contracts and subsidies, they aim to develop strategic partnerships toward dominance in low Earth orbit.

Angels invest in a mix of startups from different industries

To diversify their portfolios and mitigate their risk, angels may invest in startups that are at earlier or later stages of development, as well as in various industries.

S&P Global, the company that makes the S&P 500, is listed on the S&P 500

When the S&P 500 index was released in 1957, it was helpful for investors, but not necessarily profitable. S&P Global now makes more than $1B a year just from selling its index data. Alongside its other services, like credit ratings, S&P Global makes more than $14B a year.

Many startup founders pull out-of-the-box stunts to get their businesses off the ground

Do you know Airbnb’s founders used cereal (yes, as in the breakfast food) to secure their initial round of funding? Or that PayPal’s founders once gave out free money to get people to sign up for the platform? These stories might be crazy, but they’re not uncommon.

PetSmart and Hilton are among 10 of the most famous leveraged buyouts in history

Some of the most famous leveraged buyout deals include Blackstone's 2007 acquisition of Hilton Hotels, in which Blackstone took the then-public company private and then returned it to the public markets in 2013. A British PE firm bought PetSmart for $9B in 2014—one of the most expensive leveraged buyouts since 2007.

More than 650 companies went public in the US in 1996

As the dot-com bubble reached its peak, most dot-com companies went public with little proof of being profitable and were often overvalued. In 1999, the Nasdaq's price-to-earnings ratio (a tool used to determine a stock's value that divides its price by earnings) hit 90.2, signaling that many companies were operating at a net loss. Startups promised investors that more time and money would help scale their businesses and become profitable.

Dual-class stock structures separate equity and decision-making authority

In the past few decades, dual-class stock structures have become an increasingly popular way for companies to raise capital in public markets without allocating traditional shareholder voting rights. Meta, Estée Lauder, and The New York Times are companies that are famously dual-class.

A short squeeze happens when short sellers increase stock prices by buying shares back quickly

When short sellers realize their positions may be incorrect—usually triggered by increasing share prices—they often try to quickly buy back their shares in order to minimize their total losses. When this happens on a large scale, that buying activity can drastically increase to represent the seemingly high demand for that stock. The result is called a "short squeeze," which refers to short sellers literally being squeezed out of their positions by rising prices.

Meme stocks often have little underlying value but are fueled by crowd funding

"Meme stocks" is a phrase originating in the early 2020s, referring to companies with little underlying value who gain recognition through social media and whose stock price experiences rapid gains.

The stock market, explained in 3 minutes

The stock market consists of a set of exchanges and other venues where shares of public companies are bought and sold. The Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange are two of the most well-known exchanges in the US, while major exchanges also operate around the world, including in Tokyo, Shanghai, London, and São Paulo.

Meet the ‘SPY kids’ tied to Wall Street’s first ETF

When SPY became the first ETF to launch in 1993, regulators wanted its issuers to set a termination date. After initially saying the fund would cease to exist in 25 years, its issuers came up with a different strategy. They named 11 children born between 1990 and 1993 and declared that the fund would cease to exist in 2118, or 20 years after the last of the 11 “SPY kids” died. The kicker? According to Bloomberg, none of the children knew they were connected to the fate of this giant fund.

Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Bumble's former parent company in 2019 ahead of the dating app's IPO

The New York City-based investment management company paid about $3B for its stake in female-focused dating app Bumble. The app's 2021 IPO that made Bumble Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd a billionaire at age 31 proved lucrative for Blackstone as well.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace