shareholder
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shareholder
Explanation
A shareholder is someone who holds stock in a company. Shareholders partially own a company and can make more money when it does well. When you share, you're using or enjoying something with others. Similarly, shareholders own shares — also known as stocks — in a company, so the shareholders all own a little piece of the company. Therefore, shareholders want the company to succeed, so their shares will be worth more money. If one shareholder owns more than 50% of the shares, that person can control the company. Otherwise, the shareholders will have to work together to make decisions.
Vocabulary lists containing shareholder
Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Middle School
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The Industrial Revolution - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Elon Musk is the founder, chief executive and controlling shareholder of SpaceX.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
The largest shareholder of Cadiz, with a 35% stake, is Netherlands-based Heerema International Services, a global industrial infrastructure company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
One raises the bar for shareholder proposals if a company is incorporated in Texas and its shares trade there or the company is headquartered in the state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
UniCredit is seeking to take over Commerzbank to create a European banking giant, despite fierce resistance from the German lender and the government in Berlin, itself a shareholder in Commerzbank.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
He became Avant!’s single largest shareholder; he pressed management for changes.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
On the surface there just isn’t much for shareholders to complain about.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Discovery shareholders and to manage escalating legal fees from a half-dozen law firms hired to help defend the merger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Right now, Brase says the Chicago-based food company needs to show results to shareholders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
It raises reasonable questions about the precise details of that conversation and the scope for any possible benefit to Tether and its shareholders from shifts in Bank of England policy.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Management was replaced, shareholders badly diluted, and creditors left intact but with some uncertainty.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
