What Happened to Ginkgo Bioworks?
Ticker: DNASPAC Year: 2021Merger: 2021
Return
-97.5%
Current Price
$0.25
Peak Price
$14.96
Trust Size
$1.7B
Summary
Synthetic biology company that programs cells to produce chemicals. One of the largest SPACs ever at $17.5B valuation. Stock crashed 97% as revenue was largely from related-party deals.
What Happened
Ginkgo Bioworks merged with Soaring Eagle Acquisition in September 2021 â one of the largest SPAC deals ever at $17.5B enterprise value. The company builds a "cell programming" platform for biotech, agriculture, and pharma. It attracted top scientists and ARK Invest loaded up. But investigative reporting revealed that a huge portion of Ginkgos revenue came from companies it had equity stakes in â essentially circular transactions. The stock crashed from $15 to $0.25 as the business model unraveled. Did a 1:40 reverse split in 2024.
Key People
Timeline
2021-05
SPAC merger announced at $17.5B
2021-09
Merger completed
2022-06
Related-party revenue concerns emerge
2023-09
Stock below $1
2024-03
1:40 reverse split