Going public also leaves you to the short sightedness of the public market. There is a reason that public companies are taken private when they need to make long term changes.
Also, Adobe can invest money in a product without going to the public markets for more money or taking out loans.
You can argue whichever is better for society, more anti trust, more big corp acquisitions. My point is only that the idea that without big corp acquisitions, founders would have no options besides walking away and letting their product die is preposterous.
Also, Adobe can invest money in a product without going to the public markets for more money or taking out loans.