Goldman, which was working with Mr. Hamamoto and arranged $500 million in additional financing for the acquisition, ran only a standard background check on Mr. Burns — a public-records search that took more effort than simply looking him up on Google but stopped short of any interviews, a person familiar with the bank’s activities said.Mr. Burns did not respond to requests for comment.Diverging FortunesIn early August, news of the merger of DiamondPeak and Lordstown drove shares of the SPAC up 20 percent. Small investors, who have become active players in the stock market in recent years, were among those driving …
