The major difference between public and private companies is simply who they are beholden to. Public companies are controlled by the public who own the stock. Those who buy more stock have more say but at the end of the day it is the owners of the stock that can control the business and it is to them that the upper management reports. Private companies are controlled by those they decide to put in control. This allows for greater flexibility because shareholder’s profit is not the number one driving force.

In terms of profitability I do not believe that a company being public or private has any major effect on the profitability of that company. The fact of the matter is that being private or public depends entirely on how one wants to run the business and what one wants to get out of it. If you just want to get rich as fast as possible then public is they way to go. Grow to a decent size, go public, then get rich when your share price skyrockets and you can dump your stocks. But if you’re interested in staying in control this is not going to work. If you want control and long term gains then private is the way to go. You will still have control, but you will in general make less money as a person because your income will be based on what the company makes alone, not including stock price.