Easy. The company goes on to be successful, with huge revenues...

Easy. The company goes on to be successful, with huge revenues and salaries, and reaches a valuation of 1 billion dollars. The Dr., being a major shareholder, sells his 400 million dollar stake to whoever and retires in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, us poor shareholders are still waiting for it to list on NASDAQ so we can sell our shares. Otherwise, we have to wait for a buyer to turn up and take our small holdings off our hands at a substantial discount in an off market trade. Private companies make money too you know.