Virgin Orbit Had a Fake Takeover

I think sometimes that, if I had made slightly different life choices, I might have become a guy who pretends to buy public companies as a hobby. There are guys like that! Elon Musk is the most famous — “It is possible that nobody in human history has ever spent more money on a hobby than Elon Musk has spent on his hobby of pretending to buy public companies,” I once wrote — but there are others, and I understand the appeal. Mergers and acquisitions are exciting; inserting yourself into the drama of buying a public company seems like it would be fun and make you feel important.

Now, of course, many people who go around pretending to buy public companies have another motive. The motive is: