Startups in space travel, electric cars and hair loss treatments are the hot stocks of the SPAC boom. New billionaire Mat Ishbia has a novel idea: A SPAC boasting big profits and a dividend thanks to his massive mortgage company.
Mat Ishbia by Jacob Lewkow for Forbes
By Antoine Gara, Noah Kirsch & Sergei Klebnikov
At United Wholesale Mortgage’s 2019 holiday party, the prizes rained down like confetti: 10 Cadillacs, 100 all-inclusive vacations, free groceries for a year—a celebration of the firm’s $415 million annual profit. The Chainsmokers performed at the company’s sprawling Pontiac, Michigan headquarters, which contains an arcade, library, basketball court, putting green and in-house salon. “That’s the kind of stuff people care about,” says Mat Ishbia, United Wholesale Mortgage’s 41-year-old CEO.
This year, Ishbia is handing out a different sort of party favor: stock worth at least $1,000 to all 8,000 of UWM’s employees—including the 800…