Technical nit: stock is equity, which is absolutely NOT a liability in the technical sense of the term. Generally liabilities are something that has to be paid

Technical nit: stock is equity, which is absolutely NOT a liability in the technical sense of the term. Generally liabilities are something that has to be paid back on a more-or-less predefined schedule; equity is more "permanent" (but it's really a spectrum with points in between like "convertible debt" and "preferred debt" and such, which have some features of both.) The point about "permanence" refers to the lack of any obligation by the issuer to pay it back on any schedule. That changes of ownership can happen without the company really knowing/caring is a huge feature of public equity markets, compared to say, a private partnership where, if an individual wants to exit, it might lead to business closure because the partnership needs to liquidate in order to cash out the partner, or the partner needs to find someone else to buy their partnership stake, which may be difficult as partnerships aren't as standardized as NYSE-traded equity with regard to reporting, control, and legal precedent. tl;dr share capitalism has some really nice benefits that too often go overlooked.