These investors are making a big bet on the MAGA economy
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Omeed Malik, founder of 1789 Capital, during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York on July 15, 2025. Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
SPAC investors this week made a big bet on the MAGA economy.
- Or at least a big bet that some other investors believe in the MAGA economy.
Driving the news: Colombier Acquisition Corp. III raised $260 million in its IPO, above its $250 million target, and a source tells me that it will end up with around $300 million after underwriters exercised the greenshoe.
- Colombier is led by Omeed Malik, managing partner of 1789 Capital — the Florida-based venture capital firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.
- Trump Jr. is a director on the SPAC, as are Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, onetime "SPAC King" Chamath Palihapitiya, and former U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters.
Zoom in: Colombier's prior SPACs merged with Public Square, an e-commerce marketplace that promotes sellers with conservative values, and online firearms retailer GrabAGun.
- Both have performed miserably. Public Square is trading below a buck per share, while GrabAGun closed Wednesday just shy of $3 per share.
- Masters and Trump Jr. are on both companies' boards.
Behind the scenes: So how did a SPAC sponsor with that sort of track record manage to outperform its own expectations?
- The basic answer is that SPAC IPO investors rarely play for the long term, and SPAC sponsors are more akin to investment banks than private equity firms.
- Both Public Square and GrabAGun shares popped after their mergers closed, hitting around $36 and $17 respectively. SPAC investors who bought at $10 per share were often the sellers, leaving others holding the bag.
- The cynical take is that MAGA retail investors got left holding the bag and will again. The counter is that Colombier is now operating in a MAGA-led economy, and thus will be able to seek out stronger targets.
The big question: Colombier III has around two years until it needs to complete a merger, and it's quite possible that Democrats will control at least one house of Congress by 2027.
- If that happens and the SPAC hasn't yet closed its merger, it's possible that there will be fewer secondary buyers.
- 1789, which is said to now manage around $2 billion, seems to be telling its own investors not to worry — Trump controls the executive branch through the end of 2028, which means he still makes many of the rules.
The bottom line: The first two Colombier SPAC IPOs priced into Biden's economy, raging against the machine. This one is part of the system.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout, and to remove a reference to a regulatory filing in connection with the upsized raise. The upsized amount has not yet been filed with the SEC.
