You’ve learned a lot about public companies, like Apple and Google, that you can invest in through Bloom 🤔

But there’s another type of company that lurks in the shadows: private companies.

These are companies that don’t sell their shares to the public through stock markets 😈

Because they don't sell their shares to the public, private companies can keep more of their financial information and business decisions secret 🤫

Ownership and decision-making is typically in the hands of a limited number of individuals, with no need to cater to public shareholders 👀

But despite what it may seem, private companies can be REALLY big.

The biggest private company in the US is Cargill, and they do $165 BILLION in annual revenue.

That’s even more than Meta! 😲

You are probably familiar with many private companies such as SpaceX, IKEA, LEGO, Rolex, Panda Express and X (Twitter) 🚀

But if you invest in public companies by buying their shares on the stock market, how do people invest in private companies?

In the next lesson, you'll learn about the $4.7 trillion industry that specializes in investing in private companies: private equity 🎩