Main difference between a public and private company is that a public company sells a part of its business to the public through public offerings. A private company is owned by a handful of people. This handful of people usually includes the founder and other investors. Public companies often are faced with the pressure from the market they are involved in. This may often put public companies in a short term goal oriented thinking to keep up with the market pressure. Public companies therefore, must adequately produce profit to ensure that investors stay. A private company can vary between company types such as corporations, LLCs, partnerships, etc. Private companies are legally required to file certain documents within their state and be in compliance with regulations depending on state. However, private companies are not required to submit financial information publicly, whereas public companies must submit by the Securities and Exchange Commission within an annual report. This allows private companies to focus on long term goals/reach, different than public companies. An example of a private company would be Deloitte. A big four of largest professional accounting firms in the world, Deloitte earned a record $38.8 billion USD in revenue. An example of a successful public company would be Chevron Corp.