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

The teaching is delivered under contract by a private company at weekends in a small campus in east London.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

For a profitless private company eyeing the public markets for the first time, OpenAI this week was remarkably cavalier toward a charismatic megafauna of the Hollywood ecosystem, Disney.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

“We can’t control what a private company does to punish consumers, punish drivers,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

LGP, which first acquired Mister Car Wash in 2014, will now own the soon-to-be private company for a second time.

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

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

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis