Ownership basics
Compare transfers, repurchases, and new issuances
See how a secondary transfer, company repurchase, and new issuance affect holders, outstanding shares, and the recipient of cash.
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Start with the same company
Assume a company has 1,000,000 outstanding common shares. Alex owns 600,000 and Blair owns 400,000. There are no awards, convertibles, pool reserves, preferences, or other holdings in this example.
The three transactions below are separate alternatives starting from those same figures. They do not occur in sequence.
Compare the share-count effects
| Transaction | Alex | Blair | Casey | Total outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex transfers 100,000 to Casey | 500,000 (50%) | 400,000 (40%) | 100,000 (10%) | 1,000,000 |
| Company repurchases and retires 100,000 from Alex | 500,000 (55.56%) | 400,000 (44.44%) | 0 | 900,000 |
| Company issues 250,000 new shares to Casey | 600,000 (48%) | 400,000 (32%) | 250,000 (20%) | 1,250,000 |
The transfer changes the identity of the holder for an existing quantity. The repurchase reduces outstanding shares under the assumed retirement treatment. The new issuance increases the denominator and reduces the existing holders’ percentages.
Identify who receives the consideration
At an assumed $2 per share, Casey pays Alex $200,000 in the transfer. The company receives no new investment from that sale. In the repurchase, the company pays Alex $200,000. In the new issuance, Casey pays the company $500,000.
These are separate from the company’s historical capital raised. Cap Table retains the original issuance consideration through a transfer or repurchase. It does not treat secondary sale proceeds as new company capital or subtract a buyback from the historical capital-raised metric.
Retain the source and successor records
Use the transfer or repurchase workflow on the original certificate. A partial transfer creates the receiving holder’s certificate and a remainder for the seller while retaining the closed source. A company repurchase retires the purchased quantity in the app.
Inspect vesting before recording a transfer. The app’s buyer certificate has no vesting schedule, while the seller’s remainder retains the applicable schedule treatment. Compare this behavior with the actual transaction; recording a transfer does not amend its legal restrictions.
For US transactions, private-company shares may be restricted and resale can require an applicable exemption. See the SEC’s private secondary markets overview. The app records a transfer; it does not determine whether the transfer is permitted.