No, they just sold a chunk of the company and made a $0.5/share profit on it, probably by promising future profits; there is not even a guarantee that the buyer

No, they just sold a chunk of the company and made a $0.5/share profit on it, probably by promising future profits; there is not even a guarantee that the buyer will be able to sell it for the same price they bought it. They might commit fraud and sell valueless shares and effectively "print money" (especially if people take loans to buy them), but I have a feeling that it doesn't work for long.