What action by president lincoln most angered the radical reoublicans in congress.
Shares also trade in a secondary market on stock exchanges. A company can increase or decrease the number of shares outstanding without an IPO through stock splits and reverse splits. In all cases, the beneficiary of reverse split activity is the management of the company performing the reverse split. Shareholders may or may not benefit depending on the specifics of the reverse split.
In short, a reverse/forward split is exactly as its name indicates: it's a reverse stock split followed by an immediate forward stock split. It effectively cashes out small investors who own fewer than 100 shares. This is how it works and why it's so controversial: