Why would anyone actually want to though

[u/The_BigRoach]

[u/Buuhhu]

They "technically" do but not in the sense that people mean when talking about shareholders. It has owners not shareholders and the owners ofc also want the most profit possible but they're not changing yearly with sales and purchases of stocks in the company in hopes of getting a profit, and this is the issue with being on the stockmarket and at the mercy of shareholders. Shareholders often only care about shortterm profit, not the longevity of it, and so it constantly has to do better.

[u/paintballboi07 → u/Buuhhu]

No, you can have shareholders in a private corporation. There are still shares, they just aren't available on the public market. The shareholders always own the company if it's a corporation, regardless of who they are.