Kaepernick SPAC Merger Deal Collapses After Major Investors Balk and he Chickens Out of TV Interviews

It appears that Colin Kaepernick’s unwillingness to do a sit-down interview with Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos was the nail in the coffin for his SPAC’s acquisition of The Change Co.

His SPAC, Mission Advancement, which went public in March of this year, initially raised $345 million, to purchase a socially conscious company. It seemed that they had found the perfect fit for them earlier with a California lender that focused specifically on minority borrowers, The Change Co.

Things seemed to be going in the right direction with almost two-thirds of $100 million committed to the acquisitions from Tyler Perry, WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, music producer J. Cole and rappers Quavo and Nas, with the majority coming from a pair of real-estate investment firms Angelo Gordon and MFA Financial Inc., and others according to documents, with Kaepernick and co-chairman of Mission Najafi set to contribute $10 million themselves.

Not everyone they approached had committed including, BlackRock Inc. Fidelity Investments, and T.Rowe Price Group. Some celebrity funds such as Serena Williams venture fund and Oprah Winfrey’s money manager passed. An advisor listed on Misson’s website Andreesen Horowitz’s venture fund also did not commit any funds.

Change Co. executives had requested that Kaepernick just sit down with George Stephanopoulos for an interview, but he declined out of what seems like fear of being asked questions about the protests that made him a controversial figure with Misson executives pushing back.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Such an appearance would have been out of character for Mr. Kaepernick, who has never spoken about the issue in such a forum and has granted few interviews. Instead, he has cultivated his image through his social-justice initiatives and scripted appearances, most notably an advertising campaign with Nike Inc. and a six-part documentary about his childhood that ran on Netflix Inc. this fall.”

It appears that Kaepernick is only comfortable with a narrative that he can control to protect the image he has cultivated.

SPACs have become more and more popular lately. Former President Donald Trump’s company Trump Media & Technology Group is set to merge with SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp. The Deal values the firm at more than $10 million with the shares of Digital World jumping 1,657% after the deal was announced.

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