No you are confusing the price (or market value) of a company and it's balance sheet. For many reasons the price that a company sells for is almost never the sa

No you are confusing the price (or market value) of a company and it's balance sheet. For many reasons the price that a company sells for is almost never the same as the shareholder's equity (i.e. equity = assets - liabilities). First not all assets or liabilities are marked to market (i.e. regularly revalued) generally because some are hard to accurately value (e.g. IP, brand, customer relationships). Second neither assets nor liabilities consider the expected future profits of the company. Third the value of something depends on the buyer and seller as they many have different opinions. Forth the value of an entire or large portion of a business is different than a small portion (control premium). And these are only some of the most important reasons - there are many more! Just take a look at any publicly traded company. The market value of the equity (i.e. market cap) almost never be the same as the shareholder's equity. And if you wanted to buy the entire company you would almost certainly have to pay more than market cap.