Originally Posted by Dr. HFH

Huh? When a company goes public, the proceeds from that initial sale of stock go to the company. After that, the company gets nothing from the shareholders. When people buy stock (for example, on the NYSE), they're buying it from shareholders. When they sell stock, they're selling it to other people. The company has nothing to do with the transaction (and sees no money from it) other than keeping track of who owns the shares.