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Justin Lafazan is the chief executive of Soulpower, a special-purpose acquisition company that launched on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month.
In an S-1 filing ahead of its initial public offering, which raised $250mn, the group said:
We currently intend to concentrate our efforts on identifying businesses operating within the category of insurance services, retirement savings, and other related financial services. While we may pursue a business combination outside of that industry, we believe our focus best combines the expertise and experience of our management team with a sector that offers attractive investment opportunities.
It’s a slightly vague statement of intent, albeit not usually so for the world of black-cheque companies.
But Lafazan, whom the S-1 describes as “an entrepreneur with unique abilities to create compelling vision… a thought leader in the category of personal freedom and economic self-development”, has previously been more specific.
Posting on LinkedIn last year, he wrote:
Soulpower has officially filed our permit to start The New World Bank™
I believe that the current The World Bank, similar to the United Nations, is an ineffective and morally corrupt organization.
I believe that they are largely failing at their mission to boost economic prosperity for people around the world.
I believe that the world does not need the “Charity” of a “Non-Profit” World Bank. (Comments aside about how much “Profit” this “Non-Profit” bank is making).
Most people that I know are more similar than they are different.
They have real dreams and real goals for themselves and their families.
They face real problems, sometimes the most extraordinary challenges….
…And yet so many of them are GOING THERE ANYWAY.
That courage? That strength? That greatness of the human spirit?
That’s Soulpower.
The world doesn’t need your “Non-Profit” bank.
The world needs Soulpower.
My team believes in Soulpower.
My team wants to see Free People, Shining™
My team is developing a new business model, and new technologies, that will help “everyday” people MAKE MORE MONEY and THRIVE.
(Just wait until you see what we’re doing with Insurance)
My team is going there.
And my team is Doing It For Love.™
#StoryofSoulpower™
#DoItForLove™
Now, FT Alphaville agrees that the World Bank is far from a perfect organisation, but this is certainly ambitious. Indeed, it’s not entirely clear whether Lafazan understands what the World Bank does (clue, it’s not primarily insurance, though they do dabble).
We put the question to Lafazan, and asked whether his goals for Soulpower have changed since the LinkedIn post. He declined to go into detail, telling us simply:
Thank you for the thoughtfulness and interest in SOUL. We will have more to share as we approach our Initial Business Combination. I encourage you to reconnect with us then 🙂
We’ll be watching with great interest.
Cantor Fitzgerald acted as sole bookrunner for the IPO.
