Chamath Palihapitiya has filed to raise $250 million for a new blank-cheque company, American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corp. A, marking his return to the SPAC market after a three-year hiatus. The Cayman-incorporated vehicle plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AEXA, according to an S-1 registration statement submitted late Monday. AEXA intends to sell 25 million shares at $10 apiece, with Santander acting as sole book-running manager. The SPAC will have 24 months to identify and merge with a target or return capital to investors. The prospectus says the company will pursue businesses it considers critical to maintaining U.S. technological leadership, focusing on four areas: energy production, artificial intelligence, decentralized finance, and defense. Palihapitiya wrote that these sectors face funding gaps that a public listing could help address. In an unusually blunt disclosure, the filing advises prospective retail buyers to treat the investment as money they can "afford to completely lose," adding that if losses occur there should be “no crying in the casino.” The language underscores regulators’ broader warnings about the risks of speculative vehicles. Palihapitiya earned the moniker “SPAC King” during the 2020-21 boom, but most of his previous deals now trade below their merger prices. Opendoor is down roughly 62 % from its debut, Clover Health 74 % and Virgin Galactic 99 %, while earlier successes such as SoFi Technologies and MP Materials remain above issue price. He withdrew two larger SPACs in 2022 after failing to find suitable targets.