pedrocr jumped all over this post for some reason and took it in a very, very weird direction. I'm amazed that a discussion on HN involves people talking about

pedrocr jumped all over this post for some reason and took it in a very, very weird direction. I'm amazed that a discussion on HN involves people talking about how issuing shares is a neutral, zero sum event for shareholders (AKA founders). Specific to the MSFT/Apple deal you mention -- and more notably as part of Warren Buffett's deals with GS/BofA/GE -- those were preferred and non-voting shares. So there was no dilution in either EPS or voting control. Microsoft re-assuring that it would continue to produce Office for Mac affected the price. Apple taking out what was effectively a $150 million loan at 6% interest was not the source of the excitement. Buffett's deals also included warrants. I can no longer devote time to being the thread savior here but I'd encourage anyone reading this to walk through those deals and think through the implications. It's pretty interesting stuff.