If you have encountered GMHIW in an old stock chart, SEC filing, or SPAC discussion, it is easy to mistake it for a current stock ticker. GMHIW was actually the Nasdaq symbol for the public warrants of Gores Metropoulos, Inc., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The company later completed its business combination with Luminar Technologies in December 2020, after which GMHIW changed to LAZRW. The original warrant was therefore part of a historical SPAC transaction rather than a current standalone stock.
Quick Answer: GMHIW was the Nasdaq ticker for Gores Metropoulos public warrants. Following the company’s December 2020 business combination with Luminar Technologies, GMHIW changed to LAZRW. The public warrants were subsequently delisted in March 2021 after exercise and redemption.
What Was GMHIW?
GMHIW was a warrant security, not the ordinary common stock of Gores Metropoulos.
Before the Luminar transaction, Gores Metropoulos had three closely related Nasdaq symbols:
| Symbol | Security |
|---|---|
| GMHI | Class A common stock |
| GMHIW | Public warrants |
| GMHIU | Units |
SEC filings from Gores Metropoulos explicitly identified GMHI as its Class A common-stock ticker, GMHIW as the warrant ticker, and GMHIU as the unit ticker.
That distinction is important because searching for “GMHIW stock” can create confusion. GMHIW was not the same security as GMHI.
1. GMHIW Started With a SPAC
To understand GMHIW, you first need to understand Gores Metropoulos.
Gores Metropoulos, Inc. was a SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company. A SPAC raises capital through an initial public offering and then seeks a business combination with an operating company.
In January 2019, Gores Metropoulos announced a $375 million initial public offering. Its units were initially issued under the GMHIU symbol, while the company’s common stock and warrants were expected to trade separately under GMHI and GMHIW.
The warrant structure was straightforward in principle: each whole warrant entitled its holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share, subject to the applicable warrant terms.
Why Were Warrants Important?
A warrant gives its holder a contractual right to buy shares under specified conditions.
That is different from simply owning common stock.
For example:
- Common stock: represents an equity interest in the company.
- Warrant: provides a right to purchase shares under defined terms.
- Unit: originally bundled securities together.
So when you see the “W” attached to GMHI, it is a useful clue that you are looking at the warrant rather than the ordinary shares.
2. GMHIW Traded Separately
The securities did not remain permanently bundled together.
In March 2019, Gores Metropoulos announced that holders of its units could separately trade the underlying Class A common stock and warrants. The company stated that the separated securities would trade under GMHI and GMHIW, respectively.
This created the three-symbol structure investors may encounter in historical records:
GMHIU → unit
GMHI → common stock
GMHIW → warrant
Understanding this structure makes older financial databases much easier to interpret.
3. Gores Metropoulos Chose Luminar
The major event in the GMHIW story came in 2020.
Gores Metropoulos entered into a business combination with Luminar Technologies, a company developing lidar technology for autonomous vehicles.
The transaction was completed on December 2, 2020. Nasdaq then announced that the existing Gores securities would receive new names and symbols effective December 3.
The transition looked like this:
| Before the merger | After the merger |
|---|---|
| GMHI | LAZR |
| GMHIW | LAZRW |
| GMHIU | Units suspended/delisted |
Nasdaq’s corporate-action notice specifically states that GMHI became LAZR and GMHIW became LAZRW, with the new symbols becoming effective December 3, 2020.
4. What Did GMHIW Become?
The direct answer is:
GMHIW became LAZRW.
LAZRW was the corresponding public-warrant ticker for Luminar Technologies after the business combination.
An SEC filing from December 2020 listed Luminar’s warrants under LAZRW and stated that each warrant was exercisable for one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to the applicable terms.
So if you are looking at a historical chart and notice GMHIW suddenly disappears around the end of 2020, that does not necessarily mean the security simply vanished.
The symbol changed.
GMHIW → LAZRW
That is the key connection.
5. GMHIW Was Not the Same as GMHI
This is probably the most important distinction for anyone researching the old ticker.
GMHI represented Gores Metropoulos Class A common stock.
GMHIW represented Gores Metropoulos public warrants.
The two securities had different characteristics and should not be analyzed as though they were interchangeable.
The SEC’s 2019 filings clearly separated the two symbols, while Nasdaq’s 2020 corporate-action notice confirms that they received different successor symbols: GMHI became LAZR, while GMHIW became LAZRW.
Simple Example
Think of it this way:
GMHI = the company’s shares
GMHIW = the company’s warrants
After the merger:
LAZR = Luminar common stock
LAZRW = Luminar public warrants
This four-symbol comparison resolves much of the confusion surrounding searches for GMHIW.
6. What Happened to LAZRW?
The GMHIW story did not end simply with the symbol change.
The successor warrant ticker, LAZRW, was eventually delisted.
Luminar’s SEC filings state that its public warrants were listed under LAZRW until they were delisted on March 5, 2021 upon exercise and redemption.
Luminar had previously announced a redemption process for its outstanding public warrants. In February 2021, the company said holders would have until March 5 to exercise the warrants, with remaining warrants subject to the announced redemption terms.
The company later extended the redemption date to March 16, 2021. Luminar reported at that point that nearly 99% of its public warrants had already been exercised and that the exercised warrants had generated approximately $154 million in gross proceeds.
The result was the end of the publicly traded warrant’s Nasdaq life.
7. GMHIW Timeline at a Glance
The entire history becomes much easier to understand when placed on a timeline.
January 2019
Gores Metropoulos priced its initial public offering. The company planned to trade its common stock and warrants under GMHI and GMHIW after separation from the units.
March 2019
The Class A shares and warrants began separate trading, using GMHI and GMHIW.
August 2020
Gores Metropoulos announced its planned business combination with Luminar Technologies.
December 2, 2020
The business combination was completed.
December 3, 2020
The ticker changes became effective:
GMHI → LAZR
GMHIW → LAZRW
March 2021
The Luminar public warrants were exercised/redeemed and LAZRW was delisted.
This timeline explains why GMHIW can still appear in historical databases even though it is no longer an active Nasdaq symbol.
8. Why Does GMHIW Still Appear Online?
Historical securities do not disappear from the internet simply because their trading symbols change.
Old tickers can remain visible in:
- SEC filings
- Historical price databases
- SPAC research
- Investor forums
- Archived financial articles
- Corporate-action records
- Old brokerage documentation
The SEC’s own archives continue to contain filings identifying GMHIW, while Nasdaq’s corporate-action records document the transition to LAZRW.
That is why someone researching an old Gores Metropoulos investment may still encounter GMHIW years after its active trading period ended.
9. Was GMHIW a Stock?
No—not precisely.
GMHIW was a warrant.
Calling it “GMHIW stock” is understandable because people often use “stock” as a broad term for securities, but technically the distinction matters.
Gores Metropoulos’ SEC filings identified:
- GMHI as Class A common stock
- GMHIW as warrants
- GMHIU as units
That difference affects how the security worked, including exercise conditions, expiration, redemption provisions, and potential dilution.
10. Why SPAC Warrants Can Be Confusing
SPAC transactions often produce several related securities at once.
A simplified structure looks like this:
SPAC IPO
↓
Units
↓
Common shares + warrants
↓
Business combination
↓
New company and new symbols
GMHIW fits exactly into this structure.
The ticker was tied to Gores Metropoulos before the merger and then became part of Luminar’s warrant structure.
This is why simply searching the symbol without understanding the corporate action can produce misleading conclusions.
GMHIW vs. GMHI vs. LAZRW vs. LAZR
| Ticker | Meaning | Period |
|---|---|---|
| GMHI | Gores Metropoulos Class A common stock | Pre-merger |
| GMHIW | Gores Metropoulos public warrants | Pre-merger |
| LAZR | Luminar Technologies Class A stock | Post-merger |
| LAZRW | Luminar Technologies public warrants | Post-merger |
The important relationship is:
GMHIW → LAZRW
while:
GMHI → LAZR
Nasdaq’s corporate-action record provides the clearest official confirmation of this mapping.
Is GMHIW Still Trading?
No.
GMHIW itself stopped being the relevant ticker when the Gores Metropoulos/Luminar transaction became effective in December 2020.
Its successor public-warrant ticker, LAZRW, was subsequently delisted after the warrants were exercised and redeemed in March 2021. Luminar’s SEC filings explicitly describe LAZRW as delisted on March 5, 2021.
Therefore, GMHIW should be treated as a historical ticker, not as a currently traded Nasdaq security.
This distinction is especially important when older financial websites display historical charts alongside modern market data.
What Was the Connection to Luminar Technologies?
The connection was the 2020 SPAC business combination.
Gores Metropoulos was the public SPAC entity, while Luminar was the operating technology company involved in the transaction.
Following completion, the combined company became Luminar Technologies, Inc.
The SEC describes Luminar as a developer of advanced sensor technologies for autonomous vehicles, including lidar technology.
The transaction therefore transformed a SPAC ticker structure into a publicly traded operating-company structure.
That is the larger story behind GMHIW.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does GMHIW mean?
GMHIW was the Nasdaq trading symbol for the public warrants of Gores Metropoulos, Inc., a SPAC. SEC filings identify GMHIW specifically as the company’s warrant symbol.
Was GMHIW a stock or a warrant?
GMHIW was a warrant, not the company’s ordinary Class A common stock. GMHI was the corresponding common-stock ticker.
What did GMHIW become?
GMHIW became LAZRW following Gores Metropoulos’ business combination with Luminar Technologies. The new symbol became effective December 3, 2020.
Is GMHIW still trading?
No. GMHIW is a historical ticker. Its successor, LAZRW, was later delisted after the public warrants were exercised and redeemed.
What happened to Gores Metropoulos?
Gores Metropoulos completed its business combination with Luminar Technologies on December 2, 2020. The combined company adopted the Luminar name, with common stock trading under LAZR and public warrants under LAZRW.
Conclusion
GMHIW was not a mysterious modern stock ticker. It was the former Nasdaq symbol for Gores Metropoulos public warrants. The symbol belonged to the SPAC period before Gores Metropoulos completed its business combination with Luminar Technologies.
The essential sequence is simple:
GMHIW → LAZRW → delisted
The original GMHIW warrant symbol changed to LAZRW when the Luminar transaction became effective in December 2020. The successor public warrants were subsequently exercised and redeemed, and LAZRW was delisted in March 2021.
So if you encounter GMHIW in an old chart, SEC document, or SPAC discussion, read it as historical market information, not as a current standalone Nasdaq investment.
