joint stock company
Investor-pooled enterprise form
A joint stock company is a business owned by shareholders who each hold transferable portions of the company's capital.
Unlike partnerships, ownership can be bought and sold without dissolving the business.
Shareholders typically have limited liability—they can lose their investment but aren't personally responsible for company debts.
The East India Company was among the earliest joint stock companies.
- corporationLegally separate business entity
- limited liabilityCapped financial responsibility for owners
- limited partnershipVenture with protected investors
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
- sharesUnits of company ownership
market economy · mercantilism · VOC · corporate governance · colonial trade · financial history · industrial revolution · dividends · board of directors · economic growth · fiduciary duty · bonds · antitrust law · bylaws · shareholder · capital · going public · prospectus
joint stock companygeneral partnership
Jointly owned, jointly liable business
partnership · cooperative · nonprofit organization · government agency
joint stock companynonprofit organization
Mission-focused entity, not profit-seeking
charitable trust · cooperative · social enterprise · credit union · mutual aid society
joint, joints, jointed, jointing, jointly, disjoint, disjointed, conjoint, stock