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23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

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Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#91

Post by jcpham2 »

breck wrote: post #74
AlexandrB wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a weird push and pull on Hacker News where if a company does something unethical it's: "Well what did you expect, they have an obligation to maximize shareholder value", but at the same time founder and CEOs are often venerated as hard-working, almost selfless individuals who dedicated their lives to make the world a better place in spite of their own self-interest. It's pretty jarring.

There are 100 kinds of people in the world. 1) People who want to get rich first but also would be happy to make the world better 10) People who care about making the world better first but also would be happy to be rich 11) People who are enlightened and don't care about such things 100) People who just love to troll the other 11 groups

This is the best answer

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#93

Post by offtop5 »

sjg007 wrote: post #75

I work in this space and even I have a hard time seeing 23andMe being profitable.

Monetization of user data. Integration with the Match.com API, 'Sure you want to go out with her, you share 12.5% of your DNA'.

Open access to various government agencies, ' You share 47% DNA with this GUY who owes taxes , WHERE IS HE'.

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#94

Post by codetrotter »

offtop5 wrote: post #92

I never saw the point of stuff like this. Aside from misplaced ancestral pride, so what your great great great grandpa owned the biggest farm in Spain, doesn't change the fact you work at Vons.

Idk, I think it’d be fun to know who my ancestors were. Not for any kind of ancestral pride that you talk about but just because it’s neat. If you don’t get it you don’t get it, that’s fine. There’s lots of other things that people find interesting or meaningful that I don’t and same the other way around. It’s like that for everyone.

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#95

Post by Wronnay »

I think too many people don't understand that the $VGAC shareholders only get 11 % of 23andMe. At 19 USD that's a valuation of nearly 8 billion and completely overvalued - I wrote a blog post about this: https://blog.m5e.de/post/on-the-23andme-and-vgac-merger/

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#96

Post by kpommerenke »

sokoloff wrote: post #68
ericmay wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't consider it a hole in the rules, it's more of an alternative listing method. In my view, nothing materially changes. If 23andMe is a turd then an IPO through Goldman or JPMorgan isn't going to really change that, and neither will an SPAC. Although it's a little bit "gambling" because you don't know what the SPAC acquisition will be ahead of time, I think the SPAC vehicle is great for retail investors. If y…

So in other words, a SPAC is “a company for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is”? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sea_Company#Top_reache... It was apocryphal during that bubble; it’s real now. I do not find that to be a good thing...

Once the SPAC has identified a company to buy, investors in the SPAC get a choice to either stay invested or get their money back with interest. So it's only a blank check initially, but not once it matters. Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-08/spac-m...

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#97

Post by bhickey »

ericmay wrote: post #40
lordnacho wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who thinks that's a massive hole in the rules? You IPO an empty shell, which passes easily because it does nothing, and then any old shop with a messy business can then be bought by it?

I wouldn't consider it a hole in the rules, it's more of an alternative listing method. In my view, nothing materially changes. If 23andMe is a turd then an IPO through Goldman or JPMorgan isn't going to really change that, and neither will an SPAC. Although it's a little bit "gambling" because you don't know what the SPAC acquisition will be ahead of time, I think the SPAC vehicle is great for retail investors. If y…

My understanding was that SPAC shares came with a warrant that could be exercised for shares in the acquisition target, rather than transmuted directly into shares. After the management fee, market premium and exercise cost are you really coming out ahead? Am I misunderstanding the mechanics?

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#98

Post by kpommerenke »

grey-area wrote: post #29
fatherof2 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company gets to go public without having to immediately provide all the materials for due diligence for public investors. The companies shares get peddled to the general public and the SPAC investors and the company both win. The public is left holding the bag.

Wow that seems like the kind of behaviour you'd see in a massive speculative bubble. People buying blank cheque companies without knowing what they're going to get.

Once the SPAC has identified a company to buy, investors in the SPAC get a choice to either stay invested or get their money back with interest. So it's only a blank check initially, but not once it matters. Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-08/spac-m...

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#99

Post by strofcon »

offtop5 wrote: post #93
sjg007 wrote: post #75

I work in this space and even I have a hard time seeing 23andMe being profitable.

Monetization of user data. Integration with the Match.com API, 'Sure you want to go out with her, you share 12.5% of your DNA'. Open access to various government agencies, ' You share 47% DNA with this GUY who owes taxes , WHERE IS HE'.

Very much this.

Not to mention, "sorry, Health Insurance won't cover you because you show a slight genetic predisposition toward fingernail cancer. Good luck."

Re: 23andMe to merge with VG Acquisition Corp. to become publicly-traded company

#100

Post by lupire »

tachyonbeam wrote: post #38
lordnacho wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who thinks that's a massive hole in the rules? You IPO an empty shell, which passes easily because it does nothing, and then any old shop with a messy business can then be bought by it?

On top of this, SPACs usually have private PIPE investors who get shares at the "IPO" price, typically 10 dollars, while people who buy the public SPAC shares typically have to pay twice that, which feels super scammy. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pipe.asp

Why? Earlier investors always get better prices before opening to the public, in exchange for helping the company go public.
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