Brad Gerstner
Altimeter Capital
SPACs Launched
2
Total Raised
$1.5B
Avg Investor Return
-35.0%
Bankruptcies
0
Summary
Brad Gerstner's Altimeter Capital launched two SPACs, with the Grab Holdings merger being the largest SPAC deal in history at a $40B valuation. Grab's stock cratered post-merger, losing over 60% of its value. The deal showed that even 'quality' sponsors couldn't fix the SPAC valuation problem.
SPAC Track Record
The Sponsor Economics
As a SPAC sponsor, Brad Gerstnerreceived a "promote" — typically 20% of the post-merger company's shares — for a nominal investment of roughly $25,000. Across 2 SPACs raising $1.5B, the promote shares were worth hundreds of millions at IPO prices, regardless of whether the merged companies performed well for public investors.
While investors saw an average return of -35.0%, the sponsor structure ensured that Brad Gerstner profited from the deals regardless of outcome — a fundamental misalignment of incentives that defined the SPAC era.