holding company

American  

noun

Finance.

• holding companies
  plural

1. a company that controls other companies through stock ownership but that usually does not engage directly in their productive operations (distinguished from parent company).

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holding company British  

noun

1. a company with controlling shareholdings in one or more other companies

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holding company Cultural  

1. A company that controls other companies.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• holding companies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of holding company

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

holding company

The Del Vecchio family's Luxembourg-based holding company, Delfin, is the largest shareholder in the eyewear giant, with around 32.4 percent of its capital.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

While the holding company can argue that it is not publicly traded, what happens there has a direct impact on shareholders of the listed Tata universe, she adds.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

It had about $47 billion in assets as of midyear, ranking as the 57th-largest bank holding company in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Mark Walter’s holding company plans to buy up to $6.5 billion in assets from a troubled life insurer he controls that is at the center of a controversy over his sale of the Lakers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

He generally liked me, tended to treat me, I thought, as he might some rising young VP in his Boston-based holding company, alternatingly coddling and browbeating me.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Related Words

• conglomerate
• consortium
• corporation
• gang
• mob
• monopoly
• ring
• syndicate