public company

American  

noun

British.

1. a company that has more than 50 shareholders and whose shares are offered for public subscription.

---

public company British  

noun

1. a limited company whose shares may be purchased by the public and traded freely on the open market and whose share capital is not less than a statutory minimum; public limited company Compare private company

---

public company Cultural  

1. A company that sells shares in itself to the public to raise capital. When a previously privately owned company offers shares, it is said to “go public.”

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

public company

Bankers managing IPOs have up to 30 days to support the shares of a newly public company through a so-called green shoe option.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

“If you’re a public company and your margins are small, people don’t like that,” Jack Gold, principal analyst at J.Gold Associates, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 3, 2026

The analyst believes a Tesla and SpaceX merger likely will happen in the next 18 months, giving time for SpaceX to integrate the recent xAI merger and settle in as a public company.

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

Reflection AI will rent capacity from the newly public company to develop open-source models.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

At the priory, there is a powerful steam engine, belonging to Mr. Benson; and on the road to Birmingham is a brewery, belonging to a public company.

From A Description of Modern Birmingham Whereunto Are Annexed Observations Made during an Excursion Round the Town, in the Summer of 1818, Including Warwick and Leamington by Pye, Charles