shareholder
Americannoun
-
shareholders
plural
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Middle School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Industrial Revolution - Middle School and High School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Shares in Ozon fell by as much as 12% on the Moscow Exchange on Monday morning, while shares in its major shareholder, private equity firm AFK Sistema, fell by almost 13%.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
JPMorgan said the lack of a buyback announcement and unchanged shareholder return amount “could be a near-term disappointment to recently elevated investor expectations.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
German media reported at the time that the Lower Saxony state government, a major shareholder in the Volkswagen Group which holds 20 percent of the voting rights, refused to sign off on the plans.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
At the company’s annual shareholder meeting in July, he acknowledged the challenges the company faces and defended its strategy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
He became Avant!’s single largest shareholder; he pressed management for changes.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
In common with most companies involved in the buildout of AI infrastructure, Alibaba’s shareholders are being forced to weigh up whether the eventual payback will reward the upfront investment.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Trade and geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on the global economic outlook, with global economic growth is expected to soften through 2027, Scotiabank said in a letter to shareholders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
CEOs — even as 84% of shareholders rejected it and a Paramount sale nears an $887-million exit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
The firm, known for its open-source "Qwen" AI models, has been ploughing tens of billions of dollars into the technology, with shareholders eager to see how it will monetise the huge investments.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
It didn’t, in the end, make a great deal of sense for the shareholders.
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.
