[Retric]

You still need to find someone to take the other side of that investment.

Taking a company public is generally profitable because of people’s liquidity preference. Companies will sell shares to an investment bank directly before an IPO as both a form of payment and a hedge. It’s a very nuanced transaction that might otherwise seem dumb on the surface.

[ComputerGuru]

Thanks for the additional info. I feel like I need to read up on this some more to make more sense of all the conflicting bits I have accumulated.