This is only one quarter right. Public companies can also take on a lot of debt. The bigger reasons are twofold: 1 - the biggest one is that pension funds etc

This is only one quarter right. Public companies can also take on a lot of debt. The bigger reasons are twofold: 1 - the biggest one is that pension funds etc get to avoid the constant vol in stock prices. They get to stick their head in the sand and imagine asset prices not moving around. 2 - the annoying parts of being a public company can be avoided (public eye, some sec regs, constant need to "grow" rather than generate cash).