There's a difference between float and outstanding shares.
What's the difference between a company's outstanding shares and its "float"? Well, all the shares a company has issued are its "shares outstanding." Company insiders may hold some of the shares, while the public owns the rest. Insider shares are usually held for a long time and are not traded too often, while shares in public hands trade more frequently. The shares owned by the public represent the "float."
Imagine Holy Karaoke, Inc. (ticker: HYMNS), which has 50 million shares outstanding. If the CEO and other insiders own 40% of them, then the float is the remaining 60%, or 30 million shares.
Float are the shares available to the public.