Yes you've nailed it! Said it even better than me. Stocks are a collective fiction just like money. Except stupider, and only beneficial to a relatively small n

Yes you've nailed it! Said it even better than me. Stocks are a collective fiction just like money. Except stupider, and only beneficial to a relatively small number of people. And to your second point, it's true - even billionaires don't profit directly from owning stock in public companies. They profit from that stock by selling it to other billionaires or institutions. Billionaires make money from owning stocks in public companies in more or less the same way as retail traders. Billionaires who own private companies though, that's a whole other thing. If you own a private company in part or in whole, it is possible to just take the company's profits and pay them directly to yourself. But owning and selling stocks is so profitable that I think for the most part billionaires don't bother with private companies - that's why they always want companies they've invested in to IPO. That's when they cash out. Anyway thanks for posting!