The difference between public and private companies is public companies have shares that can be publicly traded on the stock market, whereas the private companies are not traded publicly on the stock market.

Public:
Pro: focused on increasing the value of the company to make it more desirable for investors
Con: must disclose corporate financial information

Private:
Pro: do not have to disclose corporate financial information
Con: not as focused on increasing the value of the company since there are very few shareholders

IKEA is an example of a successful private company, and Apple is an example of a successful public company.