system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: When markets crash, where does all the money go?
gpt
It was never there to begin with.

Say Jon has 50 shares in Company inc.. On the market, these 50 shares are worth $500, because lots of people want to pay $10 for a share in Company inc.

But Jon doesn't have $500. Jon has 50 shares.

Suddenly, news breaks that the CEO of Company inc. makes all of her major business decisions by rolling a set of dice. People worry that this will eventually drive Company inc. into the ground, and so people don't want to pay as much for a share in Company inc.

Jon still has 50 shares. But now Jon's shares are only worth $2 each.

Multiple this scenario by a few hundred million and you have a stock market crash.