Well the reality of that is that 1 in 1000 start-ups make money. The odds are, they would lose money. They traded a 1 in a 1000 shot at big bucks for a guaran

Well the reality of that is that 1 in 1000 start-ups make money. The odds are, they would lose money. They traded a 1 in a 1000 shot at big bucks for a guaranteed 100% return, that is the small investors take on risk mitigation. The wall street take on risk mitigation is to take and hold large chunks of equity, hoping for future growth which only occasionally materializes. They do this with other people's money. Those being people who can afford to take such risks. The people that "bought" into O have a different risk profile and appetite for loss and acted appropriately.