The environmental impact of being public often nudges companies toward a path away from their best long-term interest. The timelines of CEOs and shareholders are often not the same. For example, even if the investment made long-term sense, established companies would have a hard time increasing investment in research and development without an immediate impact (as this reduces earnings.)
Private companies can do things that public companies can't do because of the perceived (or real) environmental norms.
The metagame is playing a different game than your competitors. A game they can't play.The metagame is a strategy that involves understanding the structural or unconscious reasons that things are the way they are.