Researched
Joint-Stock Company & Exchange
The Dutch VOC (1602) is the first large company with tradable shares, pooling the capital and risk of many investors.
Open in the interactive tree →The Dutch East India Company raised capital through shares traded on the Amsterdam exchange. Limited liability later let ordinary savers invest. Modern corporations (railways, industry) spread in the 19th century with general company law, e.g. in the UK in 1844 and 1855.
Prerequisites
- Codified Law~1754 BC
- Roman Law (Corpus Juris)534Company law grew from Roman-law ideas of partnership and legal persons
- Banks & Double-Entry Bookkeeping~1340-1494
Unlocks
- Railway1825Railways were financed and built by joint-stock companies pooling investor capital
- Competition Law (Sherman Act)1890