If you buy a troubled company, the company is still troubled, you just own it, no resources have been transferred into it. Give away the shares to the population then you don't have any influence on it any more.
If you buy it by purchasing newly issued shares, then the money does go directly to the company and the existing shareholders stakes are diluted.
The effectively takes the bailout money away from the stockholders, which seems appropriate, since their shares would be worth even less if the company were allowed to fail.
The effectively takes the bailout money away from the stockholders, which seems appropriate, since their shares would be worth even less if the company were allowed to fail.