Not only is it real money when its invested, typically the rich can just borrow against those shares instead of having to liquidate anything to pay for things.
For example when they need $40b to purchase a website or media corp to use so they can have better control of the narrative, they just get a loan because everyone knows they’ll be able to make the payments, instead of selling enough shares to tank the thing that inflates their networth beyond all reason.
Not only is it real money when its invested, typically the rich can just borrow against those shares instead of having to liquidate anything to pay for things.
For example when they need $40b to purchase a website or media corp to use so they can have better control of the narrative, they just get a loan because everyone knows they’ll be able to make the payments, instead of selling enough shares to tank the thing that inflates their networth beyond all reason.