HMPRESENTLY: Acronyms in the Spotlight

Hearing an acronym, from someone during a meeting, would drive a certain prominent financial industry executive up the wall, I remembered from years ago. The executive was convinced there were far too many acronyms in banking and finance.

Nothing has changed, much — if at — over the years.

Have you been hearing about ‘SPACs,’ the acronym for ‘special purpose acquisition company?’

There was one SPAC, in particular, in the spotlight, last week, a SPAC loaded with a considerable amount of investors’ money, that, apparently, will fund former President Donald Trump’s new social media site. He’s going to call it ‘Truth Social’.

A special purpose acquisition company(SPAC) is described in financial media and dictionaries as a “shell corporation,” or, sometimes, a “blank check company.”

SPACs are “created specifically to pool funds in order to finance,” basically, something that, generally, “has yet to be identified.” Or, in other words, investors who plow money into SPACs may not know, exactly, what their money will be funding… if I’m understanding SPACs, correctly.

The Trump social media site seems to be on the way, but, apparently, all sorts of things are still being worked out. So it’s somewhat amorphous, at the moment.

Also, apparently, Mr. Trump wants ‘Trump Social’ to be a big tent, where just about everyone will be able to freely express themselves.

Does this suggest someone on the site could get away with calling the former president a ‘lowlife,’ a word Mr. Trump himself has used to describe people he basically doesn’t like very much?

And folks freely expressing themselves on ‘Truth Social’ could criticize the Trump campaign to build a border wall, and endorse immigration? And support gay marriage, and voting rights, and Roe v. Wade?

Could they talk about healthy alternatives to the former president’s beloved fast food cuisine? Could they even get away with criticizing his golf swing?

The former president described ‘Trump Social’ in a brief statement, but it was the newly-formed Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) that, apparently, officially announced the upcoming launch of the new social media alternative to such well-established social media sites, as Facebook and Twitter.

So there you have it… TMTG, recently announcing former President Trump’s new SPAC-funded social media site, that may give Facebook, Twitter and other established social media sites a run for their money.

Harvey Radin

Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.