As reports surfaced last week that Michael Andretti would be stepping down from actively running Andretti Global, so too did a few keen-eyed researchers discover that McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown had teamed up with Andretti to form an SPAC called the Andretti Acquisition Corporation.

However, on September 30, Brown resigned from the SPAC board. What does that mean, and why has it happened?

Zak Brown resigns from Andretti Acquisition Corporation II

Last week, it became clear that Zak Brown had signed on as a chairman at Andretti Acquisition Corporation II, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). The goal of an SPAC is to raise funds to merge with a company that can then go public on the stock market without having to know the specifics of the business plan while raising SPAC money.

Brown joined the initial Andretti-led SPAC back in 2021, which merged successfully with a company that came to be known as Zapata AI. A second Andretti Acquisition Corporation was founded earlier in 2024, likely with the intention of merging with a different private company that could advance Andretti’s goals.

However, Brown has now stepped down from the board of directors. Investing.com states that the departure was mutual, and that it was not related to any conflicts with the SPAC or its operations, goals, practices, or policies.

No reasoning was provided for the departure.

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Reasons for Brown’s departure remain unclear, though it does come in the wake of Michael Andretti stepping down from day-to-day organizational operations at Andretti Global, the team he’s run since 2002.

That being said, the SPAC has no direct influence on Andretti Global aside from the fact that it was formed with the intention of merging with private companies that may aid the racing effort.

There was no conflict of interest in Brown’s role on the board; rather, his presence alongside CEO of US Concrete Bill Sandbrook, CEO of Wild Oats Jim Keyes, former New York Stock Exchange CEO Jerry Putnam, and more was to provide funding to merge with a business. It was strictly a financial relationship designed to benefit both Andretti and all the SPAC’s chairpeople — including Brown.

Further, Brown and Andretti have co-run a team in the Australian Supercars series. The two are obviously aligned on certain business and racing principles.

As a result, it would be inappropriate to conclude anything too earth-shaking from Brown’s resignation. The SPAC was never designed for Andretti to acquire McLaren, or vice versa; the SPAC also does not suggest that Andretti was going to become a McLaren junior team, nor does Brown’s departure from the SPAC mean those plans have ceased.

Further, SPAC chairpeople have little control over the private company that directors choose to invest in. That means Brown would not have had the power to veto or negotiate any deals.

However, if Andretti Acquisition Corp. II were to merge with a company that Brown did not wish to do business with, he would be able to reclaim his funding and leave the board. It is not clear if that is the case in this situation.

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