Even assuming everyone bought in at today's low cost base; who would agree to this? Would you voluntarily lose $15+/share for...for what exactly? Greater good?
As it happens, that's precisely the reason why public corporations exist: the greater good.
That this has been forgotten and replaced with unilateral and antisocial concerns like "increase shareholder value at all costs" is an accident along the way. There is no reason why that can't be corrected.
Public corporations exist for the good of the public and are basically funded by the public - even more so if they are largely owned by pension funds.
My point, that being said, was not that this is straightforward. It is clearly not an easy step from public corporation to charity. However, that is a slightly easier step than from VC owned private company to charity, because VCs are very clear about wanting one thing only: capital gains, and they are not equivalent to "the public".
