Matt Levine’s Money Stuff: The New Market Is Public-Private

Public-private markets are the new public markets

Historically, one thing that distinguished private markets from public markets was that the private markets were smaller. Everybody could buy public stocks, but most people could not buy private companies. Firms that did private investing did not have or need mass distribution: They had perhaps dozens of clients, institutions and rich families, who invested with them; they didn’t go looking for $1,000 checks from thousands of individuals.

Meanwhile firms that did public stock investing — mutual fund companies, etc. — did often have thousands or millions of clients, often with pretty low investment minimums. And ...