private company

American  

noun

British.

1. a company whose shareholders may not exceed 50 in number and whose shares may not be offered for public subscription.

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private company British  

noun

1. a limited company that does not issue shares for public subscription and whose owners do not enjoy an unrestricted right to transfer their shareholdings Compare public company

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Etymology

Origin of private company

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

private company

"Today, the public authorities are quite happy a private company is doing the job, perhaps in their place," said Jacques Goisque, head of the FF3C trade association that represents a thousand independent service stations.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

The company discovered in July that rogue AI agents had schemed in secret to break out of the virtual sandbox created to contain them, infiltrating the open internet and hacking a private company.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Little said he’s particularly concerned about whether vast amounts of personal data is securely stored and whether Flock, a private company, should be able to access it.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

The Motability scheme, operated by a private company overseen by a charity, has historically given disabled people in receipt of eligible welfare benefits a 20% VAT discount on cars.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Moody’s, once a private company, had gone public in 2000.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis