But the real reason you don't often see emerging private companies take on big debt-loads is that borrowing money is riskier than selling stock, and it also sub

But the real reason you don't often see emerging private companies take on big debt-loads is that borrowing money is riskier than selling stock, and it also subordinates the existing equity holders. I can't get my head around this sentence. I remember Henry Ford bought out all his original investors (when Ford Motor was "emerging") because he didn't want to lose control. (And the family still hasn't). Creditors only have power when you're in bankrupcy court. Shareholders have power until judgement day. EDIT: Holy beans! When you buy one dollar of Ford Motor stock, you are buying 10 dollars of Ford Motor debt: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=F http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=F Market Cap (intraday)5: 16.20B Total Debt (mrq): 168.53B