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

As of now, Letterboxd is majority-owned by the Canadian holding company Tiny, which has a 60% stake, while the remaining 40% is owned by the platform’s co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

AOL’s holding company goes public, the World Cup boosts prediction markets, and Eric Trump loses more than $600 million on Bitcoin.

From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2026

The goal is to buy thousands of companies and act as a holding company for those many small businesses.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

Through his holding company Arise, he has emerged as one of the continent's most influential economic players.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

There, Duke announced his stunning plan: the men would weld their five companies into a single mammoth holding company.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

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