[nemo44x]

> Common stock shareholders usually get nothing if a company goes bankrupt and liquidates.

That's that whole risk and reward thing. Equity is often the last in line for anything when a company is in trouble. You need to pay employees, vendors, bond holders, other loans, etc first. Pretty much everyone before a share holder sees a dime.

> what is the actual value in owning stock?

They could pay dividends one day but dividends have fallen out of fashion because the taxes on them aren't good. So many share holders don't want dividends but rather for companies to buy back shares, making their shares more valuable.

> Do I just wait for the share price to go up, sell at the peak, and pass my shares on to the greater fool?

If you can do that reliably then you will be the richest person on Earth. There are many great companies worth investing in.