In 1805, Napoleon won a decisive victory over the forces of Russia and the Holy Roman Empire on a Czech battlefield known as Austerlitz. As momentous as it was at the time, Austerlitz is remembered now mostly as the surname Fred Astaire was born with. Unless you're investing in SPACs.
In that case, Austerlitz is the latest nom de guerre of financier Bill Foley, who tagged his other interests after Hannibal's pivotal victories from the Second Punic War: Cannae, Trasimene and Trebia. Does Foley possess the strategic brilliance of a Napoleon or Hannibal?
Who knows? But the hedge fund community seems to believe he has more than anyone else today. The small-caps that garnered the most new interest in August are Austerlitz Acquisition Corp. II and Austerlitz Acquisition Corp. I. While Austerlitz I is the acquirer of online casino Wynn Bet, Austerlitz II is still in the red herring phase. It's unclear what Foley is going after and apparently hedge fund managers are prepared to trust his process.
If he ever names a blank check company after Zama or Waterloo, though, you might want to short it.