> ... the managers have much more flexibility when the company is private. For example, Facebook's acquisition of Instagram would not fly if FB were public when

> ... the managers have much more flexibility when the company is private. For example, Facebook's acquisition of Instagram would not fly if FB were public when that happened. Is that really the case? In other words, what additional restrictions does a publicly-listed company have that privately-traded companies do not have? Your comment seems plausible, but I could imagine that the SEC regulations around > 500 shareholders etc. could also include all the shareholder protections we associate with public companies, as well. Additionally, I wouldn't be surprised if Mark Zuckerberg's controlling interest in FB had some sort of an impact on what regulations apply to the company.