public company

American  

noun

British.

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

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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

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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.”

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Example Sentences

It is days old as a public company, and according to its IPO filings, the company lost $4.9 billion in 2025.

From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026

In the second trading day as a public company, SpaceX’s initial public offering still was being treated as an extraordinary event in Wall Street history:

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026

The rocket maker is now America’s sixth most valuable public company.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

SpaceX will have some momentum as it starts life as a public company.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026

The grand idea began to crystallise rapidly, with the result that when a public company was formed in 1898, sufficient funds were rendered available to enable the first craft to be constructed.

From Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Talbot, Frederick Arthur Ambrose