[pig4bill]

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Here is a n00b question that maybe you can answer.

As I understand it, a company goes public to raise capital.
Now let's say I buy 10% of the share so I'm basically owning 10% of that company. So how is it that some years after the IPO, the company can decide to "release more shares" to raise more capital. Surely that's not fair to the current shareholders because once they do that I own less than 10% of the company.

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There are a couple important difference here. If they are "releasing" more shares, they are only selling shares that were already issued. Your percentage ownership changes not one iota. The only difference is who holds those shares. That's what happened with Google. They just sold more stock that was held by venture investors and other insiders.

A different situation is when a company files to register new shares. When those shares are sold, you are diluted. It's true that as was posted above that you still own that money that paid for the new shares, but not for long. When a company has to issue new stock, it's usually their last resort. It usually means they were unable to borrow the money they need. The cash from the stock sale is usually burned in short order. Be wary of this sort of situation.