In reality, the proceeds from a stock purchase go to the previous holder of the stock.

FORBES: Socially Sensitive Stupidity

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is a longtime holder of the stock, and his son Howard sits on Coke's board.

FORBES: Magazine Article

His philanthropic impulse and an absence of progeny prompted Hershey in 1909 to start a boarding school for orphan boys and to make the school's trust the main holder of Hershey stock.

FORBES: Sugar Daddy

He freely admits that he is "a large holder" of stock in Friedland's Ivanhoe Energy and has recommended both Ivanhoe Mines and Ivanhoe Energy in his newsletter. (He has also shilled for Ivanhoe Energy on CBS MarketWatch's weekend network-TV broadcast.) His enthusiasm has been credited by various news wires with moving the stocks higher.

FORBES: Helping Hands

In exchange for the lower rate, they grant the holder of the bond the right to convert the bond into the common stock of the company.

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